The Candlebrook Chronicles
by RuneWolfe
Summary: Yuuri has steadily crushed Wolfram's heart into dust as their marriage shakily survives fits of tears and anger. Now he comes to beg for one last chance to try and mend what little he can. This story is not a happy story.
1. Chapter 1: Don't Forget Me

The Candlebrook Chronicles

By,

Rune Wolfe

Disclaimer: I do not own Kyou Kara Maou

Message: okay guys! I have now managed to get th first chapter back up! Yay! I'll start working on getting the others up this weekend.

Note: This is intended to be a shorter story than my others, with an already planned out storyline and perhaps the possibility of an epilogue but no more than that. This is just a way to get out my excess ideas whilst I am working on my other stories. Someday Out of the Blue, When One Door Opens, and Blindfold will all take precedence over this story.

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"_I see you in the distance and I see us as we are__So__ nearly so contented but a careless word too far__I see you in confusion for a once enchanted boy__My heart dances, oh but not for joy_

_I longed to love you better but I swear I don't know how__You could have been my future but I had to have it now__The things we love completely we are fated to destroy__My heart dances, oh but not for joy"_

_-Elton John, "My Heart Dances"_

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Chapter 1: Don't Forget Me

Wolfram sat silently as once again his birthday present to Yuuri waited to be opened. All the others had already had their turn, and once again his would be the last and least important gift in his king's eyes.

Every year Wolfram wished with all his heart that maybe the boy he loved would notice his gift before his brothers', or at least before the maids'. He would be satisfied as long as his gift wasn't the last one… the one that Yuuri had to open just to be fair.

Sure, they were married now, they had been for about a year… but that didn't mean Yuuri's feelings about him had changed. It was in no way a loving or affectionate marriage. In fact, it sometimes seemed like the knowledge of being married to someone who doesn't feel the same way about you made every moment far more excruciating.

Quietly Wolfram disappeared through the swarm of party guests before he had to witness Yuuri's disappointed face once again. Perhaps next year he would not bother, at least he could save Yuuri that energy he used to fain gratitude for a gift that wasn't as good as Conrad's or Gwendal's.

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Yuuri pushed open the door to his room cautiously, peeking in to see if there were any traces of his wife. He hadn't seen the blonde since dinner, and as a good husband wanted to thank Wolfram for the gift he had been given.

But instead what he found was what he thought was an empty room.

The curtains were open, and no candles had been lit. It was eerie, almost, the vast expanse of his bedchambers filled by the moonlight streaming in through the tall windows. Sighing, he gently pushed shut the heavy oaken doors.

Just then a figure shot up in his bed. He nearly screamed, or… at least he would have screamed had he been able to find his voice.

Wolfram merely rolled his eyes, the details of his face unable to be seen within the contrast of the moonlight and the shadows. "It's just me, hennachoko."

"Oh…," the king sighed, a blush rising upon his cheeks. "I thought the room was empty…"

The queen merely stood from the bed, "I'm sorry."

Yuuri was quick to realize that he had made a mistake. He jumped forward through the dark and reached out, his fingers making contact with Wolframs back…. Wolfram's _naked_ back. The queen grew tense at the feel of his husband's hand upon his shoulder blade. "Wolfram… are you naked?"

The blonde thanked the gods that the lights were still out, for he felt the most ashamed of himself at this moment in time. "I… couldn't find my nightgown… and we're married so…"

Yuuri forced a smile on his face, "oh… okay…. I guess that makes sense. Let's just go to bed." But as he finished speaking, he sensed Wolfram hesitating. "What's wrong?"

"The bed's dirty…."

The king was confused. "But you were just sleeping in it… how could it be dirty?"

At this the queen jerked away, "Are you really that moronic?" His voice was furious as flung himself towards the windows. "I was pleasuring myself… what do you think?" His bare body now illuminated by the moonlight, he collapsed onto the floor, keeping his back to his husband. It was bad enough that he had had to resort to such a vile action… but now he could feel the tears welling up in his eyes. "Dammit…," he whispered weakly to himself.

Yuuri stood astonished, neither concern nor anger reaching his thoughts through his confusion and surprise. Dumbly he mumbled, "Were you thinking about me?"

Wolfram's anger flared within his chest, "No," he snapped sarcastically, "I was thinking about my father," his sobs increased with the utterance of each word. Then brokenly he dropped his head into his hands, "of course it was you…. Who else…..who else can do this to me?"

The king could only stare silently, lifelessly watching what he had done to Wolfram. The prince who had once been so full of life had lost his honor and above all, his passion for living. "Umm…. Its okay, Wolfram," he spoke tentatively, "you're a boy… its uhh... natural. We can just sleep on the clean part of the bed." He honestly thought that this would make his wife feel better.

Humiliated, Wolfram shook his head, "it's on your pillow too."

"Oh…" Yuuri murmured, being forced to realize the full extent of Wolfram's desperation. He had driven him to such a hopeless point where he could only find sexual relief in his husband's pillow. It wasn't Wolfram's fault at all. There was no reason for him to be ashamed. It was Yuuri. The negligent husband who had thought marrying the prince just to get him off his back would make everything alright.

"Is that all you can say to me?" The wavering voice of his wife reached his ears. "I just soiled our bed, and your fucking pillow…. And all you can say is 'oh'? If you hadn't come so soon, I would have gotten to your damn pajamas too." He became engulfed in sobs once more. In forced awkwardly segmented words, he continued to vent, "I've done it before… I've come all over your s-stupid clothes. You've ne-never even no-noticed. I al-always wash them be-before you can f-find out."

"Wolfram…," Yuuri whispered, unable to process the emotions. It was too much. "I'm…. I'm sorry."

"You should b-be," Wolfram cried, sprawling gracelessly across the floor. "It's always ab-bout Conrart or Gw-gwendal…," he wept, "…always my present l-last…never here….'m always alone…whole m'rriage 's lie…." his words became incomprehensible and disconnected as the pain and regret that he had kept reigned in was set free to burst from his heart.

Slowly Yuuri lowered himself to the ground, his emotions trapped in a knot in his throat. The king found that pools of tears had gathered in his eyes. This wasn't what he had intended, he had never wanted to hurt anyone, he had meant to make things better, to make the prince happy. Nervously he placed his hands on Wolfram's shoulders, trying to steady himself and his thoughts. His fingertips pressed softly against the tepid skin, still damp from heart-breaking pleasure, as if trying to discern that Wolfram really was right there with him. "Wolfram….," Yuuri groaned painfully, trying to rip his words through the rock that was blocking their way. "What … what should I do?"

There was silence, Wolfram's sobs having given away to the familiar numbness he lived with every day. Timidly leaning back into Yuuri's touch, his energy exhausted from crying, he closed his eyes. "Nothing." He whispered weakly, "you should do nothing… I asked for this right? When I fell in love with you…when I made you marry me…" Sleep began to tug at his eyes. A beckoning comfort that would protect him from what he was sure would be Yuuri's anger.

But Yuuri did not yell, nor did he pull away in disgust. He merely allowed Wolfram to lie against him, watching as the blonde's breaths became more steady and even. A calm began to fill the room, one that lacked resolve, yet would provide time to rest before the storm. "We should go to bed," was all Yuuri could say.

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Yuuri ended up sleeping in Celi's empty room, as Wolfram had continued to feebly claim that their bed was too dirty for the king to sleep in even as he drifted into light slumber. The boy king had found himself unable to sleep; haunted by everything that was true. Though he had never realized it, nor meant for it to happen, he always did open Wolfram's presents last, and always seemed to have something more important to do than to do than to spend time with his wife.

At the reminder of his present he sat up, trying to remember where he had put it. _Perhaps I left it in the dining room…_he thought to himself, all the more ashamed of the lack of interest he had shown it. It had been a truly considerate gift, and perhaps the most thoughtful of all. But as a boy who liked baseball, a music box with a picture of all his friends hand painted on the cover, was not really something you would want for your birthday.

Carefully he pulled himself from underneath the covers, the hem of his pants dragging along the ground as he made his way out into the hall. He hadn't even heard what tune the box played. He hadn't even bothered.

Deftly he snuck past Gunter's room, and Gwendal's, then most cautiously past his own room. Of all things he did not want to wake Wolfram; especially not if he would have to explain how he had carelessly left his birthday gift in the dining room after the party. However, he still snuck a peak through the keyhole, hoping to catch a glimpse of his sleeping wife. He wanted reassurance that Wolfram had not done anything to harm himself after Yuuri had left the previous night. In the faint light of dawn, the boy could just barely make out the delicate silhouette of the queen. He appeared to be sleeping peacefully.

Yuuri then proceeded down the corridor, passing the library, the study, and the ballroom on his way to the dining room.

When he had reached his destination, he found to his dismay that the room had been thoroughly cleaned. The table was clear, the floor was spotless, and once again all of the chairs were in their proper places. Search as he may, there was no sign of Wolfram's present anywhere. "Please don't let it be thrown away," Yuuri muttered desperately under his breath, digging his hands underneath the pillows of the settee.

"Heika?" A woman's soft voice flowed from behind him. A maid carrying a large basket of laundry was watching him curiously. "Is everything alright? It is awfully early for you to be awake…"

"I umm… couldn't sleep," he stuttered, standing helplessly from his efforts.

"Oh dear," she sighed sympathetically. "Being a king is such a stressful job. You really do need your sleep." The statement was more to herself than to him at all, and it was just a good as Yuuri wasn't really listening. Readjusting her heavy burden, she continued, "is there anything I can get you?"

"Umm….," he rubbed the back of his head hesitantly. What would she think of him if he said that he had left his wife's present behind without a second thought? Slowly he formed words without his mind's permission. "I was looking for the present Lord Bielefeld gave me... you know… at the party last night."

The girl thought for a moment, tilting her head to one side, then the other as if her mind was an etch-a-sketch trying to work in reverse. "Do you mean the music box?"

Yuuri grew excited, "yes… so… have you seen it?"

"Well, yes…," she sighed, again adjusting the basket against her hip. She glanced around momentarily as to reconfirm her recollection. "His highness came down to get it last night. He said that he knew you would forget it."

The king's heart fell. Wolfram knew that he had cast it aside. Better yet, he had been able to predict it. He could just picture his wife coming down after everyone else had gone to bed and sadly taking it back. It was a depressing and sickening image. "I had hoped to get it before he woke up," Yuuri mumbled mindlessly.

"I apologize your, your majesty, I was unaware that you would come looking for it, or I would have asked the queen to please leave it for you," the maid bowed obediently. In his mind, Yuuri heard her apology as '_you had this coming, if you hadn't ignored him for so long, he would never have gotten hurt.' _He merely nodded in acceptance of her silent statement and strode away in the direction of his bedroom. He would have to face the music sometime that day, and he might as well fess up to it like a man. "Good day, your majesty," she called after him.

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The corridor was still empty as he came up the stairs. It was to be expected as it was still only 4 or 5 in the morning. The light from the slowly rising sun was not enough to fully illuminate the hall, and no longer needing to be cautious, he tripped over a guard's chair.

All the while he spoke to himself, "great job, Yuuri," he muttered out of frustration, "You've really screwed it up this time." He continued to curse himself until he reached the doorway to the royal bedchamber. He knew that Wolfram would still be asleep, and was uncertain whether or not he should risk waking him in order to get to his clothes. Yet something, most likely guilt, seemed to push him forward, pressing the heavy oaken doors open and nudging him anxiously within.

At first everything silent and still, at least until Yuuri's ears realized what they were actually hearing. It was soft, and hard to hear, yet it was close. Gentle breathless pants washed through the air, hitching in uneven waves of pleasure. "Yuuri…_Yuuri…_"

The king froze, fearing that he had been caught. Yet he soon realized that the impassioned moans were not directed at him. Drawing nearer, while at the same time staying far enough away as to not draw attention to himself. He found his wife, writhing needily beneath the covers, gasping wantonly to presumably the touch of his own hand.

The scene was stunning, the queen seeming far more radiant with his cheeks flushed pink and his eyes screwed shut as his head dug back into the pillow desperately. This beautiful act was what Wolfram had been ashamed of? Yuuri couldn't quite grasp the concept.

"_Yuuri!_" Wolfram cried out, reaching his climax, blissfully unaware of his audience. He rested against the mattress weakly, arms lying loosely at his sides, his eyes remaining tightly shut as he tried to cling to his fleeting fantasy.

Involuntarily, Yuuri also moaned, his eyes glazed at the sigh of his spent wife. "Wolfram…"

As suddenly set aflame, Wolfram shot upon, heart fluttering terrified at the sound of his husband's voice. "Yuuri, what are you doing here?!" He snapped, unable to look his beloved in the eye. He was still breathing heavily, and beads of sweat gathered on his bare shoulders. He was a vision of passion itself.

The king remained silent for a moment; then stepped forward. "I wanted to talk to you." Slowly he lifted the sheets, and slid underneath them to join his wife.

"Yuuri, stop, it's dirty in here," Wolfram protested nervously, his shame begin to strengthen. His voice grew more timid, "I mean… I know you just saw me…you saw what I was doing…" However, Yuuri merely crawled closer to him, not taking notice of his wife's complaints. He wanted to prove something to Wolfram.

"The bed isn't _dirty_, Wolfram," he murmured, reaching out a hand to cup his wife's cheek. His skin was warm and welcoming. "The sheets are just wet."

For a moment Wolfram wondered if perhaps Yuuri could truly be that naïve.

Yet the boy king smiled at him, trying to make him feel safe and comfortable. Shyly he moved his hands to his pajama top, his fingers slowly beginning to undo the buttons. Wolfram blushed, not knowing what to do.

"Yuuri… what are you…"

Yuuri bashfully allowed his shirt to slide off his shoulders, then gently tugged it off and dropped it onto the floor. He then did the same with his pants, moving quietly and patiently. "I want to be with you, Wolfram," he whispered quietly, "I just don't know what to do…." Nervously he reached for his wife's hand lying motionlessly on the blankets.

"Yuuri…" emerald eyes watched as their fingers intertwined. Without pulling away, he turned his face from Yuuri. "No… I can't forgive you…"

Yuuri lovingly squeezed his wife's fingers. "I know you went back downstairs last night…" his voice was sorrowful and apologetic. "… you went to get the music box… you know me too well…" Each word was burdened with heavy regret. "

Wolfram forced a fake laugh from his throat, "I know you better then anyone else." A single hiccupping sob broke from his lips. Yuuri drew close to him, pulling the queen to his chest tightly, as if begging to be forgiven.

"I am so sorry, Wolfram," he murmured, kissing the words into the boy's hair, "I know you don't believe me, but I really am, I am so…" for the first time he too began to weep. "Wolfram please… please….just one more chance…"

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	2. Chapter 2: 'Ere I Depart

The Candlebrook Chronicles

By,

Rune Wolfe

Disclaimer: I own none of Kyou Kara Maou

Note: Hello everyone, I am very sick so I don't know whether or not this turned out really badly. I apologize if it did.

Chapter 2: 'Ere I Depart

_'Aloha oe, aloha oe__E ke onaona noho __i__ ka lipo__One fond embrace__A hoi ae au__Until we meet again_

_Farewell to you, farewell to you _

_The charming one who dwells in the shaded bowers _

_One fond embrace, _

_'Ere I depart _

_Until we meet again'_

_-Queen Liliuokalani_

Yuuri lay anxiously perched upon the edge of the bed as his wife gracefully tugged on his black silk bathrobe. The image stirred a strange emotion in the king's chest, one of mixed pity and guilt. Wolfram only wore that robe after they made love. And as they had not done so this particular morning, or even recently for that matter, the garment was strange and unwelcome.

However, it did look stunning on him. Even from the beginning, Yuuri could not deny the queen's radiance, his peridot eyes accented by the emerald and pearl lotuses that graced the garment's back engraved in his mind a thought of an angelic seductress, pure yet passionate at the same time.

It was then that Wolfram took notice of his husband's staring. _Y__ou can't make me disappear by just wishing it, _the blonde thought, easing his tired body into the velvet settee directly across from his husband. There was unsettling silence hanging between them. Wolfram had not yet given an answer. His entire being screamed to forgive the piteous boy, to let himself be walked over once again. What the hell, there were already invisible footprints marring his heart, what was a few more? Yet his mind, his intellect hesitated. The wisdom that had gathered in that golden head during his 80 years of life, held him back. His pale lips formed soft murmuring words, "I want to forgive you, Yuuri, I do…." He held the king in his loving eyes. "But all my experiences… what I've learned from every other relationship in my life… it is all telling me to get up and leave you for good."

"Wolfram…"

The Queen held up a hand to silence him. "I'm not finished," he breathed. "I'll give you one more chance. One and only one. You screw this up and I will walk out that gate and you'll never see me again."

Yuuri hands gripped his knees until the knuckles were white. "I understand."

"I hope so," Wolfram sighed standing. As his feet touched the soft fibers of the intricate carpet, the hem of his delicate robe swirled about his knees. "I want you to make it this time, Yuuri. I want you to think that I am worthy of the effort." The blonde soothingly took hold of Yuuri's fingers and brought them to his lips. "My forgiveness will be yours when I am convinced that you love me."

Instinctively, Yuuri gripped his hands. They were still warm and tepid from Wolfram's previous actions that morning. It was the feel of a lover's hands. "Wolfram… how can I prove it to you."

A grim smile dawned upon the queen's lips, "I don't know, Yuuri."

"Will we… make love?" Yuuri felt strangely nervous asking this question. Should he even be thinking about such a thing after Wolfram had just made himself so vulnerable?

Yet to his surprise, the query lightened the burden in his wife's olivine gaze. "If it happens it happens." _Gods I want it to, _the queen added pleadingly in his head as he stole a glance at the boy's bare chest. Good lord, he was acting like a schoolgirl. Quickly he turned on his heel and made his way to the closet. "You should get dressed; the conference about the Oette border is in a few hours. Gunter will want to see you first." And with that he disappeared into the large wardrobe.

Yuuri sat, not daring to move as he watched the silhouette of his wife move in the dim light of a candle. His figure was captivating, smooth and powerful with the slight curve that befitted a woman's hips and the pale skin that blushed like a ripe peach. He was lovely. Sheepishly he allowed his eyes to wander downward to the flawless round cheeks of his rear, small and delightful above his supple shapely thighs. He blushed, why had he never looked at Wolfram this way before?

Wolfram could feel the weight of Yuuri's eyes on his bare shoulders. He shivered. Gently sliding his jacket from its hanger he called to his waiting husband. "I'll be out in a minute; then you can come get your things." He hurried as to not keep the king waiting.

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Wolfram was waiting for Yuuri after the conference ended. As contented representatives of bordering lands streamed by like colorful trout, the queen stood as a break in the current, standing column-straight, his eyes determined.

The king made his way cautiously to him. "Wolfram… is something wrong?"

The blonde shook his head, "no, everything's fine, I just thought that I should let you know that you should start packing your clothes."

Yuuri's heart dropped to his stomach, "are you making me leave, Wolfram? But just this morning… did I screw up already? I mean… I had to go to that meeting… if you didn't want me to then you should have-."

Wolfram merely laughed and placed two slender fingers to his lips. "No, Yuuri, we just going away for awhile. Think of it as… a vacation mixed with marriage healing. I think it would be best if you and I were alone for a while, without all of the chaos around here. Maybe try and start things over again." His face held a sweet hopeful expression that Yuuri had never seen before. It was charming.

"Oh. Okay," he nodded, "so… where are we going?"

The blonde smiled fondly, "just a little place I used to go when I was younger. It's nice and peaceful. Has a lake… and a forest. You'll need warm clothes." The wifely manner crept back into his voice, "you may want to bring that new jacket with the golden buttons… and the fur-lined boots will be fine. Bring some lighter long sleeve shirts too… in case it is a bit warm. It's not going to be hot though…" finally he just chuckled, holding up his hands," you know what… fill in for my meeting, I'll pack for you." He loved taking care of Yuuri. "We leave early tomorrow morning." And he was off, trudging idly back down the corridor his thought lost in all the outfits he would pack for his husband.

Yuuri was confused. Wolfram hadn't even told him what meeting he was supposed to be filling in for, let alone where they were even going. Not to mention he had gotten strangely excited by the thought of packing.

What was going on?

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Gunter was forlorn at best when he heard the news. "But Wolfram is not enough to protect Heika," he sobbed about Gwendal's office, bumping carelessly into anything of value.

The dark-haired man just furrowed his brows, how long would he have to listen to this? "Wolfram will be sufficient for such an excursion, and the destination is not at all unsafe. Beauregard has the lowest crime rates in the entire kingdom. There is no cause for worry." He continued scribbling notes onto the treasury statements from Villandry and Chenonceau. The country finally seemed to be running smoothly and now there was distress amongst the royal family.

"That Bielefeld brat has no right to do this. He is not allowed to just _drag _his majesty from his home for a selfish vacation." The silver-haired man wailed on.

Gwendal raised an annoyed eyebrow, "Being neglected by his husband… being utterly miserable in his marriage, not to mention that that 'brat' is not only my brother but the Queen. I don't see how he wouldn't be allowed to do it."

Gunter remained indifferent, "all he ever thinks about is his needs."

"Because no one else does," Lord Voltaire muttered, "everyone is so busy being consumed by the king's problem's that no one even notices him."

"Well your being strangely protective today, brother," Conrad's cheerful voice echoed from the doorway. The brunette stepped in, quietly closing the door behind him. "I have to say you have Wolfram's emotions pegged perfectly."

The man in white eyed him in annoyance, "and I sure your perfectly happy with all of this, Lord Weller. You probably even planned it."

"That I did not," the brunette grinned, "but it does make me happy."

Exasperated, Gunter fled the room, "you are all blind fools!"

"I guess I should have seen that coming," Conrad sighed, "It was pretty certain he was not going to take this sitting down." He reached a large hand to the back of his head and rubbed his tense scalp. There had been a lot to get ready in order for the king and queen to have their little trip. But still it had been worth it, aside for Wolfram's strange demands such as a carriage instead of individual horses, a new case of blank parchment paper, his beloved easel, his paints, and strangest of all, his grand piano. Just how long was the queen planning to be away from the castle? But Lord Weller merely laughed; his brother's neurotics were, in a way, heartwarming.

Gwendal stood hastily, "well, Gunter will have to learn that Wolfram is now a higher authority in Heika's life than he. He can't question the Queen's demands, no matter how inconvenient."

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Yuuri watched dumbly as soldiers hoisted their luggage onto the caravan of carts and carriages they would be traveling in. What the heck was the piano for?

It all seemed to be a bit much for a vacation… but, shrugging, he let it pass. The trip was to work things out with Wolfram. If his wife wanted to bring his piano, hell, let him bring it. He could bring a pipe organ for all Yuuri cared, as long as blonde was giving him another chance. He was not going to make a mess of this one. He swore it.

Meanwhile, Wolfram was standing in the second floor corridor overlooking the courtyard, watching Yuuri and only Yuuri. The way the boy shifted uneasily, and the adorable manner in which he bit his lip as he lost himself in thought. The blonde hated how obsessive he was, but by this point he didn't even bother trying to stop himself. He loved the boy. And a boy he was too. For Gods' sakes, there was approximately a 65 year age difference between them. Not to mention the 18 yr old had the upper hand in their relationship. It was humiliating.

But at least there was a chance for things to get better… if this didn't work, then Wolfram would know that there was just no way for Yuuri to love him. The thought formed a small rock in his throat and his body tensed.

_Calm down_, he told himself, _Candlebrook has worked wonders before. There is still hope. _


	3. Chapter 3: I Am Still Breathing

The Candlebrook Chronicles

By,

Rune Wolfe

Disclaimer: I own none of Kyou Kara Maou

_"__They tell me I__'__m an old man, they tell me I am blind_

_They took my driver__'__s license, this house __ain__'__t__ far behind_

_I say jump back all you big suits __'__cause you__'__ve got something wrong_

_I __ain__'__t__ gone, no, I __ain__'__t__ gone__I am still breathing and I still have my pride_

_And I have my memories, your life, it never dies_

_Like the wind that blows in thunder_

_Or the stallion on the fly, I got it all_

_And I__'__m standing tall underneath these blue Alberta skies__"_

_-Paul Gross_

Chapter 3: I Am Still Breathing

The carriage rode amazingly smoothly across the rocky expanse of the rolling green mazoku fields. At a moderate pace the caravan made its way through the lush forests and meadows of Valenclay, Chaumont, and Ussei. Chaumont so far had been Yuuri's favorite. With its quaint little towns and miniature castles that looked like they were out of the fairytales his mother had told him as a child. He was so enraptured, in fact, by such enchanting sights that he would grasp Wolfram's hand tightly and beg him to tell stories about each land. Wolfram would sigh, dip his head thoughtfully, and look to his husband. Perhaps somewhere painted on the boy's face, there could be found his true feelings. Yet, as it was clear to see now, Yuuri's heart was still too young to comprehend love. Giving in, Wolfram began to quietly weave tales of forgotten times. From the brave knights of Valenclay, to the tragic romance of the prince of Ussei, the stories fascinated the young king. It was as if he was traveling through a storybook and Wolfram was his very own Fairy Godmother…. God-wife-husband to be precise.

Yet all the while Wolfram had watched in contented amusement, Yuuri had been strangely sweet to him ever since the birthday incident. Yet at the same time it instilled doubt in his heart, was this real? Or was Yuuri just acting?

"Wolf, wolf," the king cried as a small monument came into view on a smooth round hill, "what is that?"

The blonde eyed it. A large ivory column atop which sat the statue of a young boy holding his hand out to the sun. A pair of ebony wings graced his small back as a sash hid his eyes from the light. "That's… a memorial to my father."

Yuuri went silent. How was someone supposed to respond to such a thing? Wolfram had lost his father when he was only eight. His father had only been 33. Elian Valkyrie von Bielefeld, beloved by the people, yet murdered in cold blood by a religious fanatic who doomed him for having a child without being wed. Elian, blind since birth, had worshipped his son and would hardly ever let Celi get a hold of him, unless it was time to breastfeed, and even then the young man would keep a steady hand on the child's small golden head. "Wolfram… I'm sorry….," Yuuri whispered.

The queen glanced at him and forced a smile to his lips, "there's no reason to apologize; it just means we've reached Beauregard." He shrugged to emphasize his feigned disinterest. "It's a nice statue, he added.

Trying to change the subject Yuuri glanced back out the window, "so you mean we're there?"

"Well… we're in the right province, now we just need to reach the manor. That's deeper in the woods so it will probably be another half hour." Wolfram rubbed the boy's back. "Thank you for being so patient, it's been a long ride."

The overly obedient tone of Wolfram's voice made the king nervous. This was not the fiery man he had married. Eyeing him, Yuuri tried to smile, "It hasn't been bad at all, Wolf; I've been having fun. And… I'm glad we're doing this."

Wolfram just grinned and turned to look out the opposite window, his suspicion of the king's sincerity still burning in his chest. Had he always been this cynical? He had been judgmental and quite frankly he hadn't been all that welcoming of strangers, but it was not often that he doubted those closest to him, especially not Yuuri. As he lost himself in thought, the carriage moved deeper into a thicket of Yew trees, elegant and verdant. It was as if the whole forest was cut from the purest jade.

Meanwhile, Yuuri's mind was racing. Was he doing this right? Was he being too overbearing? For the first time ever he realized that he had never had a truly deep and meaningful conversation with his wife. He had no idea what to say. What were they supposed to talk about? Did he have any right to ask more about his father? Or maybe he should change the topic and ask Wolfram about his hobbies… but wouldn't that just make himself look like more of an idiot for not knowing his own wife's interests? His groaned, this was all so difficult. He wanted to know Wolfram, he was _desperate _to, but the queen didn't come with a map or an instruction manual.

The blonde could overhear the boy's annoyed moans. Was it already that bad to be sharing a carriage with him? "Yuuri…," the man murmured, ready to confront him on the offense, yet he took pity on him, he was young, it might have just been about the length of their voyage after all. "Are you feeling sick?" Part of him wished that Yuuri would say yes.

The king glanced at him, once again encompassed in the landscape. "Nah, I'm just a little tired. We left kinda early this morning."

Wolfram bowed his head in agreement, "I'm sorry, I just wanted to make sure we arrived before dark so you could at least see the orchard." He smiled lovingly at the back of his husband's head, "but you'll probably want to take a nap, won't you? I probably should have just let you sleep in." Sighing he leaned back in the velvet cushioning, _Wolfram you idiot, get him sick why don't you?_

Yuuri turned quickly, seeing his chance to comfort his wife. "No, that was a great idea," he announced, taking the blonde's hand once again. "I would love to see the orchard."

Wolfram merely eyed him, "Yuuri…. You're trying too hard."

The boy blushed. So his wife had noticed. "Sorry… I just don't want you to feel bad… that's all. You worked hard to put this trip together and give me a second chance…. I just… want you to know I really appreciate it. Wait… did that come out wrong? I mean… I didn't deserve the second chance but I'm grateful for it, not that I think that you're so mean that you wouldn't… obviously you would….but at the same time… you're not a doormat, you-"

The queen silenced him with a gentle palm to his heaving chest. "Stop worrying about everything you say. You know I love you… and I understand what you mean. Just be Yuuri."

"It's Yuuri who got us into this mess," the king muttered, almost immediately he straightened to clarify himself, "Not that being with you is a mess it's just that-"

"_Yuuri__," _Wolfram scolded. "You're doing it again."

"I'm sorry," Yuuri whispered, defeated. "I just… I just don't know what to say to you." He fiddled nervously with his fingers. "I mean… after what I did." He couldn't look Wolfram in the eye. He felt like a fool. How had he let things get this bad? He had always been called the sweet sensitive guy who treats everyone like an equal. Well, _I guess now that isn't true_, he thought.

Wolfram was surprised, shocked, and saddened at the same time. Yuuri was still so young, he was still innocent. "You don't need to say anything special. Just… say what you want. I'm the same Wolfram you've always known."

"But I don't _know _you Wolfram." Yuuri whimpered. "I don't know what your childhood was like… what training you went through… who you dated…if you've ever been in love… I wouldn't even know if you had kids!"

To his surprise the blonde laughed, "You just have to ask, Yuuri. If you want to know about my past, just ask."

Yuuri straightened, a weak confidence seeping into his fluttering heart. He thought for a moment, then looking shyly at his hands, he spoke, "Umm… okay… so…. _do _you have kids?" He blushed as he asked.

"No," Wolfram reassured him, "to this day I have managed to avoid having kids." He had to stifle a few chuckles at the thought. "Any other questions?"

"Let's see…" the king glanced about for inspiration. "I know. Where did you grow up?"

The blonde shifted slightly to look into the boy's face better. He wanted to watch his eyes, for they were to black mirrors that often betrayed Yuuri's deepest feelings. He felt relieved to find only sincerity in that nervous gaze. "Many places, actually, Blood Pledge for a while… I was born in Bielefeld at Maggio Castle. I suppose that's where I spent most of my childhood. After I found out that Conrart was human, I begged mother more often to send me to stay with my aunt in Champor. It's a small castle near the main city of Bielefeld."

"Do you think I can ever see it?" Yuuri's interest was enticed.

Blushing, the blonde nodded, "perhaps one day we can go… it's a nice place to take kid-" he stopped realizing the mistake he'd nearly made. Correcting himself he murmured, "it's quite lovely."

Yet Yuuri had heard his betrayed thoughts. "Wolf… do you really want children? 'Cause we can-"

"Yuuri, please," the Queen spoke tiredly. "May we not speak of this now?"

The king nodded in agreement and attempted to change the subject to a completely different matter, "Did you ever fight in the war?"

The queen grew a bit more solemn, "yes. I fought at the battles in the Laccuos Valley." He timidly knotted his fingers into his hair as he always did when reminded of those days. Yet he managed to bind a wavering smile on his lips. Hardly anyone ever asked him about his war days. They usually assumed he was too young to have fought. He hadn't expected Yuuri to be wondering about such things.

"Wolfram… you seem upset," Yuuri's voice brought his attention back to the now lurching motion of the carriage. The sound of the horses' hooves started to become more dispersed and erratic. The king eyed his wife. "Wolfram…"

The blonde merely glanced out the window, speaking in slow distant words. "Yuuri… I think we're here."

-

Stepping out onto the firm ground, Yuuri's legs felt weak and stiff. He breathed in the crisp air, and ignoring the painful tingling in each step, he looked about him. They had come to… the loveliest cottage he had ever seen. Sheltered by trees and guarded by a charming fence overgrown with ivy… it was a scene out of a Beatrix Potter tale. Yuuri expected to see a little rabbit in a blue jacket come running past yelling something about Mr. McGregor. He couldn't help but grin. The manor was beautiful. "This is gorgeous, Wolfram," he whispered, his eyes memorizing the tender glow of candlelight in the windows.

The queen nodded and stretched out his aching arms. "Welcome to Candlebrook Cottage, Yuuri. I used to stay here when I got into fights with my family. "

"This is _yours?"_ Yuuri stared at him in disbelief at how such a charming dwelling could belong to anyone. It was too perfect to be a man made creation. No, he was certain they had entered a painting.

"No, I don't own it," Wolfram sighed, "My cousin does… but he never comes here. He says it's too quiet."

The king's mouth fell, "but it's beautiful!" He gazed around at the serene woods serenaded by the songs of chirping birds. Then glancing down towards the small cobblestone path to the old wooden door with the round bronze knocker, he felt a strange overwhelming happiness.

Wolfram merely stepped forward to take hold of his smallest bag. "If you think this is beautiful… I can't wait to show you the gardens. Candlebrook has acres upon acres of meadows and forest. Even a lake, as I promised. But those all begin behind the main house." He began to stroll gracefully towards the welcoming façade of the chalet. "I hope this isn't too small for you. It has about eight bedrooms… there's a kitchen, a washroom, three bathrooms… a sitting room… and then there's the study, its right next to the library…," his voice began to drown out as he traveled further away.

Yuuri gaped, too small? Nothing with eight bedrooms was 'too small.' Yet at the same time, looking at the cottage, he couldn't see how such a quaint building could have that many rooms…

Then noticing that he had been left behind, Yuuri took hold of his suitcase and scurried after his wife.

-

-

-

Once all of the bags had been unloaded by their couriers, Wolfram saw off their soldiers as the carriages rode back the way they came, leaving them and the single maid that kept the house.

The inside of Candlebrook was just as delightful as the outside, with its oak paneled halls lit by the golden hue of candles, and the bedrooms each decorated in the style of an English noble's holiday home. The most common color in the home was forest green. That, accented often by silver, gave the cottage an earthy feel. In fact, it made Yuuri wish he could don a velvet coat and mount his horse for the hunt.

"_This_," Wolfram announced as they came upon a cobalt themed room decked with a petit marble fireplace and a desk made from fiery tinted wood, "is my bedroom. Yours is the next one over."

Yuuri was taken aback, almost ripped out of his daydreaming. "Wait… we're not going to share a room?"

"Of course not," the blonde murmured, "this is a fresh start for us, Yuuri. We're going to do this right… that means we have to go back to the beginning, and try this like a real couple. Therefore, we need separate rooms." He then smiled knowingly, a smirk hidden upon his pink lips, "and don't worry, if you have a nightmare, I'll be right next door."

The king blushed. That's not what he had meant. It was just that he had become so used to sharing a bed… he was a bit doubtful about going back to sleeping alone. All he could say was,"oh."

Wolfram then shooed him off with his hands. "Go look at your own room; I'm going to change before dinner."

Yuuri reluctantly obeyed.

-

His room was robed in shades of scarlet and crimson. It felt warm and cozy, and he too found that he had a fireplace, yet his was bigger. In fact, he found his room was larger on a whole than Wolfram's, and had more luxuries, such as a private bathroom, a larger wardrobe, and two windows to the garden instead of one. Yuuri was touched. Wolfram had given him the more comfortable room even though he didn't deserve it. Though Wolfram would later claim that he just didn't like the red room, Yuuri knew it wasn't just a coincidence. His wife had planned it that way. It was this way no matter where they went. He always made sure that Yuuri got the best of anything; though it was not like he would ever admit it.

Tiredly he thrust his bag upon his bed. The mattress was soft, and the heavy luggage sank slightly into the sea of blankets. Yuuri moved to the windows. From his room he could see the growing vegetables and from there a dirt path lay like a ribbon over two rolling hills that broke the horizon. All around large trees with thick trunks stood guard over their small haven. This was truly a small piece of Shangri-la that had been dropped to the ground by the gods overheard. Though it was evening, and the sun was dying fast beyond the trees, birds still chirped excitedly in search for frosted berries. Yuuri allowed himself to get lost in the Hallmark-esque scenery.

A knock at the door caught his attention.

As the entrance swung open heavily, a small woman, young and blonde with a kind face stood in the doorframe. Clad tidily in plain gray dress and white apron, she bowed reverently. "Dinner is in an hour, Heika. Where would it please you to eat?"

Yuuri shrugged, "it doesn't matter… is there a dining room? Where does Wolfram want to eat?"

The maid shifted her feet a bit awkwardly. "Pardon, your majesty, but his highness has told me that he will not be hungry for dinner. But I will prepare the dining room if you wish." Her eyes pleaded for an answer. She was someone born and raised to serve, and had managed to find enjoyment in doing so.

"Uh, sure, that'll be fine." The king muttered, distracted by his wife's sudden strange behavior. Since their arrival Wolfram had announced that they would not be sharing a room, and now they would not be dining together. Was he mad? Yuuri began to panic. He knew he shouldn't have asked about the war, it was always such a touchy subject with the natives.

"The dining room it is, Heika," the girl smiled and moved to leave.

"Wait," Yuuri called after her, she eyed him expectantly. "What is your name?"

She bowed again, "forgive me, your majesty, I am Aelis. I shall be seeing to your needs during your stay here. " With that she hastened from the room.

-

-

-

At that moment, Wolfram was sitting at the end of his bed, clothed in his black silk robe and idly teasing one of his nipples. Having found Yuuri's school jacket carelessly packed in his own suitcase, something forbidden yet familiar within him had been sparked. His eyes were closed, and his teeth kneaded his lower lip as his hands roamed about his body. His nerves were burning. He had been so close to Yuuri for so long, yet had been unable to touch him in the manner that would satisfy him. Weakly he lay back on the sheets. The wooden frame of the bed creaked slightly as he spread his legs.

"_Yuuri…_"

Gods this was pathetic. He was doing it again, sinking so low as to seek pleasure in his own hand.

Wolfram moaned as he palmed his groin tentatively, wisps of his soft golden pubic hair visible in between his fingers. "Yuu…chan…." His lips parted in a silent gasp.

_Please Yuuri, touch me_, his mind was screaming as his own fingers took hold of his yearning length. In the blackness behind his closed eyelids, his husband began to caress him. Lovingly suckling at a nipple, the king rubbed tenderly at the more intimate parts of the queen's body. His Yuuri was such a talented lover. He knew every place on the blonde's body that made him feel special. He had memorized the perfect way to make love to Wolfram.

A tear crept down the Queen's cheek. What was left of his sensible thought begged himself to stop, to stop debasing himself, to stop being so helplessly weak. As he continued to moan beneath his Yuuri's touches, he began to weep silently. He was so pathetically lonely.

His weeping turned to sobs as the Yuuri in his mind held him close through the night.


	4. Chapter 4: Nessun Dorma

The Candlebrook Chronicles

By,

Rune Wolfe

Disclaimer: I own none of Kyou Kara Maou

Note: I had someone ask me a question about the age of Wolfram's father. I just first wanted to make clear that that is obviously not a part of the series or the manga. And to answer the question they had about it, this may just be my interpretation of mazoku ages, but I don't think that even though wolfram who is approx. 80 yrs old looks fifteen, I don't think a 33 yr old would be running around looking like a toddler. I think the slow aging starts after they go through puberty (this is just the way I have understood it) Because… they decide what they want to be as an adult when they are 16, so I think they have had to have grown enough by that point to be considered an adult, so I think 33 (which I intended to be a bit young for a father) is not impossible. So… yeah… that's my explanation… I hope it makes sense….. And also… someone wanted to know about Yuuri's motives (was it the same person? I apologize but I have terrible memory)… and in their comment I believe they hit it dead on. Because its true… right now it is mostly out of guilt. And I think his begging for a second chance is born out of that guilt… so really what he is asking for is a chance to fall in love with Wolfram in the first place… but you can interpret it however you would like…

-Rune

P.S. Thank you for all your reviews, I really appreciate them, Especially since I have not written a story quite like this one before. I usually start off having Yuuri and Wolfram in a pretty sound relationship…. So your feedback is really helpful.

I also had someone ask why i was repeating these chapters... i am not, if previous readers of this story would remember, i had computer issues and had to take this story down. Therefore, what i am doing now is reposting them.

-

-

_'Nobody shall sleep__Nobody shall sleep! __Even you, o Princess, __in your cold room, __watch the __stars, __that__ tremble with love and with hope.__But my secret is hidden within me__my name no one shall know...'_

_-English translation of aria 'Nessun Dorma'__ (Giacomo Puccini's 'Turandot')_

Chapter 4: Nessun Dorma (None Shall Sleep)

Yuuri shivered beneath the sheets as he rolled free of where his body heat had pooled thinly around him. Morning frost breathed in beneath the windows and crept deftly through the cracks in his curtains. Through the small glimpses revealed to him of the outside world, he could see the white waves of fog blanketing the world. He groaned, it was exactly the type of morning that having another person in your bed was good for.

Moving to sit up, he tugged the blankets about him so that they guarded his bare shoulders from the lustful, bitter cold. Jack frost seemed to do more than playful nipping that morning. Instead he seemed intent on swallowing Yuuri whole.

The king sighed. His clothes just had to be across the room and in a closet now when the floor had transformed into no less than an icy slab of stone-cold wood. He cursed himself for not being lazy and dropping them beside his bed.

Just then a knock at the door enlivened his spirits. Life! Someone was moving and breathing in this frozen world besides him. "Wolfram?" He called anxiously.

The door creaked open slightly when the intruder's identity was unmasked. "Yes, it's me," a soft wispy response drifted in anchored on a small breath of heat. The voice was muffled by the slur of morning drowsiness as that familiar golden head peaked into room. Wolfram was looking strangely weary and pale. "I just wanted to know what you wanted for breakfast."

The king moaned, "I'm not even sure I'm going to make it out of bed when it's this cold."

Wolfram shot him a less than amused I told you so look. "You should have worn your pajamas. I packed them for you." His voice was a bit harsh, but it was true. He had done all the packing, so the least Yuuri could do was to bother to wear the clothes. Even so the boy was taken aback by his wife's curtness.

"Wolfram, are you feeling sick?"

"No… why?" The queen looked confused as he vainly glanced about in search of a mirror, fingers pressed tentatively to his cheeks, "do I look sick?"

Yuuri nestled back into his pillows, cushioning his thin body as he eyed Wolfram inquisitively. "No," he murmured, "… you just look tired."

"I guess I didn't sleep well," Wolfram shrugged. "So what do you want for breakfast?"

But the king wasn't listening. "Why weren't you at dinner? If you aren't feeling sick… why couldn't you at least sit at the table with me? It was lonely with no one to talk to."

The queen grew a bit withdrawn and his voice became quiet. "If only you knew how many times I've wanted to say that to you…"

Yuuri stopped. He had just been verbally slapped in the face with the very guilt he'd been drowning himself in since his birthday. And for good reason, but by now it was getting quite frustrating. Weren't they here to 'start over?' So why did his wife have to remind him of what he had done wrong? It's not like Wolfram was perfect. "I've already apologized, Wolfram…," he murmured.

"Yes, you have," the blonde agreed in a cutthroat manner, "but don't forget that I haven't forgiven you yet."

The boy nodded, "yeah, yeah, I remember." It was like a horse had just kicked him in the back. His chest was tense, and his throat was involuntarily tight as if he were about to start crying. "Just… please … can we just try starting fresh like you said?"

Wolfram sighed, "of course. That is why I'm here."

Yuuri took offense to the subtle accusation beneath that comment. "And why do you think I'm here?" What did Wolfram even mean by something like that? He was sure as hell not going to stand there and let the man assume that he wasn't even trying.

The queen shook his golden head sadly, "I don't know, Yuuri. You have to decide that for yourself."

"Okay then, I'm here to work things out with you." The king announced.

Wolfram dipped his head to one side, then the other thoughtfully. Then smiling in a knowing manner, he whispered into the crisp dawn air, "what do we have to work out?"

"What are you talking about?" Yuuri cried, "We have to have to fix our relationship, our marriage!"

"Yuuri, what relationship _do_ we have? What do we have between us besides the word 'marriage,'" the blonde was annoyed and his voice trembled awkwardly as he spoke. "If you think we're here to _fix_ our relationship then you have lead yourself astray. We are here to _start_ a relationship. The fact that we're married doesn't really mean much at this point."

"Fine, Wolfram, then that's what we're here to do," Yuuri thrust his arms out in exasperation, "and I _want_ to be here doing that. So why are you angry?"

His wife shook his head, defeated, "maybe I'm not angry at all. Maybe, I'm just utterly happy because you're actually here with me."

The boy tugged his knees up against his chest, wrinkling the white sheets into intricate knots and waves snaking around his naked figure. For a long moment he looked at his wife. Better yet he truly looked at the man he would be sharing this home with… beautiful, passionate… He had to start thinking of Wolfram as an individual instead of just as the word 'wife.' By the end of this experiment, Yuuri's affection should not be coming from the mere fact that Wolfram was his spouse, but because he was fervently in love with the man who happened to be his partner for life. "Then… if that's the case, I want bacon for breakfast."

Wolfram laughed, "Alright then, bacon it is. It'll be ready in a few minutes, so you should get dressed."

Yuuri grinned, "Great idea, it's not the smartest idea to be naked at the first meal you share with your new boyfriend."

The queen held up a warning finger and jokingly scolded him, "I still expect to be addressed with the same respect befitting a queen."

The king nodded obediently, "but of course, your highness whom I have never dated before."

Wolfram just groaned and retreated to the hallway. He wasn't going to bother with trying to think of something clever to shoot back. At least things were off to a good start. "And wear something warm. We're going on a hike today."

-

-

-

Breakfast had been an altogether _cordial_ experience. They had spoken about their plans for the rest of the week, or at least what Wolfram wanted to make certain that Yuuri saw such as the little town of Carta Magi, which was only about a two hour horse ride from Candlebrook. He also wanted to take a rowboat out onto the lake so that Yuuri could see the small island in the middle with the miniature chapel. Other than that, Wolfram left their schedule open for what the king wanted to do.

"So, where are we going today?" Yuuri questioned as he examined the map of the area.

"I was thinking we'd hike through the gardens… see the orchard… then see if we can make it to the lake before it gets too late. You don't want to be out there in the dark."

"Why, is it dangerous?"

Wolfram shrugged, "aside from the possibility of you falling in the lake? No, it's just that it's easy to get lost. Not to mention how cold it is at night."

"What… the lake?"

"Everything," the queen muttered, "if you think it's cold now, imagine how cold it will be at night."

Yuuri tipped his chair back onto its back legs. "Is the lake ever warm enough to swim in?"

Wolfram shook his head, "never. Beauregard never gets warm enough for the lake to be anything above freezing. If you go in it, it's almost certain you'll get sick."

"So… is it always winter here?"

The queen shook his head, "not exactly. Its just that the spring and summer months are extremely mild, and usually on the colder side. And the fact that the lake is mostly fed by rivers coming from the northern mountains doesn't help either."

"Wolfram, you sound so….smart." Yuuri eyed him, Wolfram didn't usually talk about things like this. He was usually chasing after the king screaming about how flirtatious he was.

The blonde wasn't certain whether or not that was a compliment. Had Yuuri thought he was dumb? Just another bubbling blond airhead out to get in his pants? "Hennachoko… I've finished all my years of schooling. I went to a University in Valenclay. I even studied abroad in Fransia when I was in my thirties. Though mother did think I was too young to be off on my own. It's silly how protective she was."

"But I'm sure she was still lining up suitors at your bedroom door," Yuuri laughed.

"Yes… she always did want to hurry me off into the arms of some lover, man or woman. She did it to Conrart and Gwendal too."

"Hey, at least your mother didn't put you in dresses. Everyone at my school thought I was a girl until I hit puberty." The king thought back to all those times his mother had dragged him into clothing stores that didn't even sell boys' clothes.

Wolfram snickered behind his hand, trying his best to look sympathetic. "I am sure you looked adorable."

They continued swapping stories about mothers until the food had been cleared from the table.

-

-

-

Yuuri tripped clumsily as they made their way up a particularly steep part of the dirt path. Morning dew form small rivulets in the soil, making the ground slippery and for these particular travelers, quite hazardous. The king had already stumbled at least fifty times, and Wolfram had had a nasty fall over one of the large tree roots of an old willow. Yuuri had been quick to aid his wife, yet strangely, Wolfram had pushed him away, almost ashamed that he had fallen in the first place. "I can get up by myself," the blonde had snapped, swatting at the king's outstretched hand.

Other than that, their hike had been smooth and enjoyable. The air of their conversation was a bit stiff, and was mostly Wolfram reciting the history of the Lakeside area, yet no arguments had been incited. This, therefore, was seen as a 'successful' venture.

"… and so, they came here," Wolfram announced, a bit of familial pride hinted in his voice. "My cousins were cowards… I mean all deserters are, but they've done a great job with this land."

Yuuri just nodded, and groaned a bit as his sore foot rubbed against the trunk of a large tree.

At the sound of his companion's moaning, the blonde shot him an annoyed glare, "I'm sorry that my family history is such a punishment for you. I just thought you might like to know a little more about this place."

"No, Wolf, it's not that… it's my ankle," Yuuri grunted as he leaned against a large upstanding stone which acted as a territorial marker. Timidly he rubbed at his leg.

Wolfram rolled his eyes, and stepped towards him, "then heal yourself." He watched as the boy bit his lower lip, concentrating on untying his large boot. He was sure he had packed the more comfortable boots. "Don't you remember how?"

"Yeah, I remember," the king muttered, pressing his palm to the reddened area that blemished his tan skin. He sighed with relief as his powers began to take root within him and rid him of the dull ache.

"Hennachoko," Wolfram pouted, "we haven't walked that far. How did you manage to get yourself hurt already?"

"Says the one who fell flat on his face a little while back," Yuuri teased.

But Wolfram didn't think it was funny. It had been embarrassing to fall like such a novice in such a easygoing trek like this. "That was an accident."

Yuuri stared in disbelief, "and you think I did this on purpose?"

"Of course not, you just need to be more careful."

"Yes, Wolfram," Yuuri chimed as his wife turned to examine their surroundings, confronting the king with that cute little rear of his. _Gods… why am I horny…. I never used to get horny… this is ridiculous__ and definitely not a good time__, I wasn't even attracted to him when we got married… I mean he was adorable and all but now…._ The boy shook his head, made he could force the lust from his mind. Sighing he reverted his gaze back to his foot, _I bet Wolfram only gets horny when he wants to. Is that even possible?_

"Can you get up yet?" Wolfram prodded him. "At this rate we won't be able to even see the orchard, let alone the lake."

The king hoisted himself off the ground and gave a thumbs up. "Alright, let's get going!"

"You're sure you're alright," Wolfram inquired, glancing hastily down at Yuuri's leg. "We don't have to go yet if you need more time."

"Don't worry," his husband smiled, "all better. You don't need to worry."

The queen shook his head, "I always worry." With that he restarted their intermediate pace and quickly changed the subject to the fauna and flora of the Candlebrook area. "We definitely have a lot of deer… there are some foxes and other small mammals… and a good number of birds. They may start bothering you in the morning."

"It's alright," Yuuri breathed, stepping cautiously over a jagged rock, "you don't come to a place like this to ignore nature. Who owns the other houses around here… are the neighbors nice?"

The blonde thought a moment then heaved up his shoulders, "I wouldn't know. The people around here aren't exactly social. I've never met any of the other residents. I know the townspeople… but not the manor –keepers."

"How could you not know your own neighbors?" The thought was a bit boggling.

"These lords live here because of the solitude. It would be quite offensive to just go knocking on their doors to introduce yourself."

"Sounds like a lovely bunch," the king joked.

"Again," Wolfram announced under his breath, "I wouldn't know."

-

-

-

About an hour or so later, things were beginning to get a bit ugly.

"Wolfram… are we lost?" Yuuri groaned in frustration, it was high noon, still freezing, and now both his feet were aching. Why was this trail almost constantly uphill?

"Yuuri, for the last time, we are not lost. It's just past that ridge."

"I thought it was _just past_ that last ridge," he king interjected.

The queen exhaled loudly, a signal of his waning patience. "I know where I'm going, I used to live here, remember?" He irritably kicked at a rather large rock on the path. "Can't you at least trust me on this? I just wanted this walk to be nice for you."

"This has nothing to do with trust, this has to do with whether or not you can admit it when you make a mistake." Yuuri readjusted his grip on his daypack, unable to see the flash of hurt that crossed his wife's face.

"Aren't you even having a little fun?" Wolfram asked a bit pathetically. Yuuri slowed his pace.

"Wolfram… I didn't mean to hurt your feelings…"

The blonde shook his head and quickly swiped the back of his hand over a bleary eye, "don't be an idiot. I'm not upset."

"Wolf… really, I _am _having fun, I'm… uhh… I'm just a bit cold. Sorry… I didn't mean to take it out on you." Yuuri flinched at the forced sound of the apology. He sounded so fake every time he said something, there was no way that Wolfram couldn't have noticed. But at the same time, it was hard to be believable when you were trying to convince someone that you enjoyed having your feet rubbed raw on a long trudge over hills that were beginning to feel like mountains.

"Do you want my jacket?"

Damn it, how could Yuuri not see that coming. Now Wolfram was going to insist on giving him his jacket, even though he would then be freezing. _Stop doing things like this,_ Yuuri thought in frustration, _it's not you, it's not Wolfram. Just __be__ Wolfram. Tell me I'm weak, call me a wimp. I don't like this fake person… this little wife who lets me walk all over him without realizing it until he's miserable. Stop turning yourself off… you're a person too… you have needs just like I do. _But meekly he just murmured, "nah, Wolfram, I'll be fine. Let's just get to the orchard, shall we?"

_I want the real Wolfram back… I want to fall in love with Him. _


	5. Chapter 5: No One Else to Blame

The Candlebrook Chronicles

By,

Rune Wolfe

Disclaimer: I own none of Kyou Kara Maou

Note: My god… I believe that last chapter may have been the worst chapter of anything I have ever written (grammar and flow-wise… as well as uninteresting content). When I reread it on the website it felt so choppy. Gods I'm sorry… I hope never to write like that again. I promise to be much more careful in the future. That was just sloppiness and laziness on my part, and the difficulty of writing a transitional chapter… I am ashamed. :: hides face::

I also apologize for the shortness of this chapter… but I ddidn't feel that it fit well into the last chapter or this next one… so its more like a scene than a chapter.

-Rune

Chapter 5: No One Else to Blame

**Victim Of The Game**

_"Well, it took a little time _

_But I guess you finally learned _

_That promises get broken _

_And bridges do get burned _

_You've been __siftin__' through the ashes __Just __tryin__' to find a flame _

_Holdin__' on to __nothin__You're a victim of the game_

_You were __standin__' way too close _

_To see it all fall apart _

_And there were things you couldn't hear_

_'Cause you were __listenin__' with your heart _

_But you can't say I didn't warn you _

_Now there's no one else to blame _

_There's __on__ one quite as blind _

_As a victim of the game_

_You know it's really __gettin__' to you _

_When you take to __tellin__' lies _

_And you can try to fool your friends _

_But __yo__ can't look 'em in the eye _

_There __ain't__ no __standin__' tall __In the shadow of the shame _

_When everybody knows _

_That you're a victim of the game_

_Oh, you know, when I look into your eyes __I can really feel the pain _

_Starin__' in the mirror _

_At__ a victim of the game"_

_-Garth Brooks _

_-_

_-_

It was late when the fruit trees breeched above the horizon, reaching for the crisp silver sky like a newborn child grasping weakly for its mother.

Yet from the distance their black spindly branches appeared as bones. Each tree, seen only on the farthest hill from the weary travelers, was a skeleton of its own unique deformity. The boy king grew doubtful. What graveyard had Wolfram brought him to?

Yet this was no cemetery. Death was not welcome here.

The orchard was quiet.

Frost, though thick, made no noise under the travelers' weary feet. It was as if everything had been put on mute. Or as if everything was waiting in silent suspense for something spectacular to happen.

The supposed corpses of a knotted forest transformed into the elegant figures of smooth-branched fruit trees which stood as monuments, tall and steady in the thick mist. Life thrived here, a silent serene presence that slept like a giant beneath the fertile soil, pulsing its energy into the roots of the forest. Its heart and soul fed the world around it and its large tears formed torrents so powerful that they pooled at the feet of the grand mountains into the grand lake of Arasgat. Yet the creature had begun to age… maturing into tall pines and luscious fruit. This was a sacred resting place.

Yuuri stood in awe, the grass brushing up against his knees as it bowed to the gentle breathing of the mountains. The serenity of the lands chilled embrace calmed his heart and seemed to flood it with love for all things.

Wolfram, however, found a more fulfilling solace in the protection of a Lucca fruit tree.

The branches embraced his small body as he curled himself into their highest cradle, eyes watching the sky as the sound of Yuuri's wonderment serenaded his ears. "So…," the blonde smirked to himself, hailing his husband's attention. "Was this worth that _terrible _walk?" A pair of leaves snapped off a nearby bough and flittered down towards the king's feet. The world was beginning to take notice of their existence.

"Yes," the boy admitted feigning reluctance; he shrugged off the tensions of their previous quarrels. "I wish there were more places like this closer to the castle." The normal cheer with which he constantly masked his voice was donned once again with his words.

"That would be wonderful but I can't agree with you," the blonde sighed into the tender breeze, "Such a thing would make places such as this less rare… less special," the voice in the tree called down to the king.

Yuuri stepped closer to the thick trunk of the Lucca tree and lightly palmed its sturdy spine. Testily he leaned against it, and finding in a trustworthy crutch, he peered up into the maze of branches finding minute glimpses his wife's small back. "I guess… but then more people could enjoy it." The blonde did not answer. He merely glanced down over his shoulder at the ground, gifting Yuuri with an adorable 'let's agree to disagree' pout that grew beautifully into a smile. It was… _cute. _"Fine," the king imitated the man's pout, "if you're going to be that way, then I'm coming up there."

Wolfram couldn't help but giggle like a schoolchild. Turning away to conceal his blush, he began to tortuously count the long moments it took for his husband to climb into the stern embrace of the tree. "Be careful, Yuuri, some of the branches are slippery… you don't want to fall." He stretched out a helping hand as the demon king neared his perch. Yuuri took it gladly.

"I think I'll be alright," the boy grunted, reaching his destination. He eased himself onto a slightly lower branch than Wolfram, finding his sight pleasantly at level with the blonde's chest; he continued to clutch his wife's fingers. As he shifted to get comfortable, a rainstorm of dew drops broke free from the underbelly of the heavy limb. When he felt secure and safe, he reluctantly released his friend's pale digits. "See," Yuuri said proudly, raising his arms above his head in a triumphant celebration. The blonde just laughed.

"You are such a wimp," Wolfram interjected.

Yuuri grinned, "Yes, but this wimp made it up just as far as you did."

"Not quite. And I am sure that was all luck," the queen grinned. The king found him to be flirty… in a cute stuck up cheerleader sort of way, yet one could say it was charming.

"Hey Wolf…," the boy murmured, he drew a bit closer to his wife. He had had a strange urge building within him since the hike had started. It was just a simple little desire… yet it was something not so easy to obtain. He wanted to kiss those plush lips… even if it was just once.

The blonde sensed something was amiss. Yuuri had gone quiet, and in addition to that, seemed altogether pensive; this was a strange occurrence with his majesty. "Yuuri… what are you doing?"

The boy feigned confusion, "what are you talking about?" His palm timidly brushed against Wolfram's knee. Touching him felt good, yet unsatisfying.

Wolfram nibbled at his lower lip, that was strange… had Yuuri really just touched him? "Um… Yuuri, do you need more room… I can move over…" he could feel an unwanted and uncalled for blush rise in his cheeks.

Realizing what his wife must be thinking, Yuuri backed off, "No… there's plenty of room… I just thought there was… a bug." He pretended to examine Wolfram for more faux insects, yet, in truth, he kept his eyes on those dusty pink lips. They were beautiful… almost the same color as those small peaks on his wife's chest that would blush when he was aroused. It was also that shy hue that would touch the blonde's cheek's sweetly as he lay exhausted after intercourse. Admittedly it hadn't been as passionate on Yuuri's side as it had been more of a habit… but Wolfram had always drowned himself in the sensations as best he could. Sitting here now on that sturdy branch he found it strange… he had always thought of Wolfram mostly as a friend…but at the same time he knew such intimate things about him. Where he liked to be touched… what noises he made when nearing climax….

All the while that Yuuri was lost in his thoughts, Wolfram eyed him, watching bemused at the shifting expressions on Yuuri's face. "Who are you thinking about?" His voice thinly veiled his resentment in curiosity.

"I'm not thinking of anyone," the king straightened. He had to be more careful about when he started daydreaming. "I was just thinking that it would be so fun to play baseball out here… there's lots of space…"

The blonde dropped his head to the side, an undercurrent of hurt flowing behind his eyes. "So you were thinking about Conrad."

"What?" Yuuri couldn't decide whether to be offended or hurt. "Why would you think that? I definitely didn't say anything about him. We haven't even talked about Conrad since before we left home."

"It's just… you always get that face when you think about him…," the blonde sighed, nipping cutely at his thumbnail.

The king laughed, "I do not have a 'thinking about Conrad' face."

Wolfram didn't respond and they sat in the resulting silence for a few long moments, neither having any clue as to what they should talk about. Yet it didn't take long for him to notice that Yuuri was tilting towards him again. Wolfram watched in awe… was he trying to… no, it wasn't possible…Yuuri wouldn't be trying to kiss him. Although that face did seem rather suggestive. His emerald eyes steadily widened as the boy leaned closer to him, the king now sitting at a dramatic slant, his gaze intent on the queen's face. The queen felt a strange reaction starting deep within his belly.

It was then that Wolfram moved to get a better grasp on the slippery bark, his legs had begun to slide off awkwardly, and he hoped to move to a thicker, sturdier arm of the tree. However, as his hands outstretched for the neighboring branch, the one he had used to anchor himself snapped with such a sickening urgency that it got tangled around his feet. Wolfram found himself unable to move, panicked as the smaller veiny bones of the tree began to shift and drop in an awkwardly abrupt manner. Yuuri jumped to grab at the queen's forearms, yet they slid through his fear-shaken fingers, and Wolfram plummeted agonizingly to the hard ground along with the crushing mass of the bough. The king feared that some of the subsequent snapping sounds were not made by branches.

"Wolfram!" A scream tore impulsively through Yuuri's lips and without a thought to his own safety, he flung himself back down the labyrinth of branches, hitting the ground at a run.

The body lay motionless on its side, his torso twisted at bizarre angle, and his face mostly buried in the grass. Wolfram's golden hair pooled around his cheeks, rogue strands affixing themselves to his bloody lips and dirt caked skin. Yuuri's desperate hands felt the queen's limp figure, feeling for breaks in the ribcage as he continuously murmured his wife's name under his breath like a sacred mantra that could turn back time and stop this from ever happening. "Wolfram… _Wolfram…._" His wife's sides felt firm and lean… with no evidence of broken bones. Shyly, Yuuri ran his fingers over the scalp. He prayed that he wouldn't find anything.

As his fingers brushed up against a small lump, the king panicked, but to his extreme relief, he found it only to be a clod of dirt. Leaves, twigs, and even small stones had weaved themselves messily into the man's flaxen hair; he looked as if he had been lying there for days. "Wolfram, come on, say something…," he tenderly rubbed at the blonde's shoulders.

There was still no movement.

"Wolf!" His voice now pleaded, it groveled at Wolfram's shallow breaths to produce a sound other than faint rasping.

Weakly, Yuuri pulled at Wolfram's clothes, tugging down the shoulders of his fur-lined coat until he could work his hands beneath his white linen shirt. He had to heal him on his own. Yuuri's cheeks grew slightly red at the warmth of Wolfram's tepid skin which seemed to shiver at his touch.

"Yu-Yuuri," the choked out voice was a strange mixture of pain, confusion, and embarrassment. Yet it was music to the boy's ears.

"Wolfram!" Yuuri relief shook his body as he gently pressed his forehead to his wife's shoulder-blade. His fingers instinctively began to massage at the man's bruised skin. "Thank the gods you're alive."

The king's affection felt strange to Wolfram, and was the only thing that could be sensed over the cruel drumming of tortuous pain that was spreading through his body faster as he regained consciousness. He was breathless, bleeding, and broken, the bones in his arms and legs feelings as if they had been twisted and snapped into hundreds of small pieces clinging desperately to his quivering nerves. Therefore, the feel of loving hands on his bare back felt out of place for such a situation… his husband should not be tenderly caressing him as the metallic taste of blood and soil plagued his mouth. "What a-are you doing t-to me?"

Finally it was brought to Yuuri's attention that what he was doing, with his hands shoved down his wife's shirt as the man lay on the verge of organ failure in the grass, could be perceived in many different ways… and none of those ways seemed to be particularly good in any sense. "Believe it or not, I was trying to heal you," he groaned in embarrassment.

Wolfram shifted his head as best he could to aid his labored breathing, the chorus of pops and cracks that followed was dismaying. As he spoke a small dribble of something wet flowed from the side of his mouth. "It's n-not helping…"

Yuuri nuzzled the side of his neck comfortingly, "that's because I haven't gotten started. it will help in a second." As he said this, he flexed his fingers timidly over those milky shoulder blades.

Gradually a warm heat gathered beneath the king's palm, a slow steady force like a puddle that little by little flowed over and flooded the area about it. Yuuri's magic… his emotions…his fears… were flowing through Wolfram's thin body, overwhelming the pain in his arms, his head, and most of what plagued his legs. Yet to the queen's disappointment, the torment in his chest remained as sharp as before. The blows dealt to him by his fall were nothing compared to the thorny vine that had begun to conquer his heart. "_Yuuurii_…" a moan escaped his lips.

Yet the impassioned utterance went unnoticed as Yuuri's head began to spin. His own legs began to tremble and were soon rendered useless as the last of the boy king's energy was absorbed into Wolfram's velvety skin.

The queen cast an emerald eye back in its socket in an attempt to glimpse Yuuri as much as possible. The boy's face was growing pale, with almost a grayish hue that tainted his normally toasty golden skin. He looked sick. The hands on his back began to quiver, losing their certainty and confidence, and every so often they slipped tiredly down to the blonde's abused sides."Yuuri, stop… th-that's enough."

Yet just as he spoke Yuuri smiled, slipped his eyes closed… and fell beside him.

The orchard watched them, like two sparrows whose wings had been broken in a merciless summer storm. They lay in the forest of grass… the breath of the world washing over them as time flowed past.

A tear fought its way free of Wolfram's verdant eyes as he watched his beloved's exhausted form lie peacefully in the grass. That was the expression he imagined Yuuri would have when he passed on from this world… a smile bearing all the innocence of youth, unburdened by prejudice or hate.

It was a beautiful sight.

A king asleep amongst weeping flowers


	6. Chapter 6: My Foolish Songbird

The Candlebrook Chronicles

By,

Rune Wolfe

Disclaimer: I own none of Kyou Kara Maou

Note: I just wanted to make a quick apology… I personally did not feel that the terms 'wife' and 'queen' were derogatory… and I hope it is clear that I am not using them to belittle Wolfram, yet instead to make a distinction between the roles of Wolfram and Yuuri. Though 'royal consort' may be more appropriate and politically correct… it feels to me to be a bit too technical and impersonal. Queen is formal yet strong whilst consort makes me feel like he is being pushed to the side and is less important, as for wife, it is more of an affectionate term than spouse or other terms that can be used in its stead. So if my use of 'queen' and 'wife' has caused you a bit of confusion, this is the reason that I use them.

Thank you for reading

-Rune Wolfe

Note 2: Also, sorry if this chapter is a bit short, and maybe not as well written, it is really another transitional chapter.

Chapter 6: My Foolish Songbird

_"__To__ recite! While taken with delirium,_

_ no longer know what it is that I say, _

_or__ what it is that I am doing! _

_And yet it is necessary, force yourself!_

_Bah! Can't you be a man?_

_You are "[king of clowns"  
_

_Put on the costume,_

_and__ the face in white powder._

_The people pay, and laugh when they please._

_ if Harlequin invites away _[your lover

_laugh__, Pagliaccio, and everyone will applaud!_

_ Change into laughs the spasms of pain;_

_into a grimace the tears of pain, Ah!_

_ Ah!_

_Laugh, Pagliaccio,for__ your love is broken!_

_Laugh at the __pain, that__ poisons your heart!"_

_-__Canio ,__Ruggero__ Leoncavallo's 'I Pagliacci '_

-

-

Wolfram drifted in and out of thought as tiny hands gripped at his jacket and then as he was dropped to a hard rickety surface. He groaned. Everything was beginning to hurt again… where was Yuuri? His heart began to flutter at the thought, had he woken yet? Yet try as he might, his eyes refused to open. "Yuuri," he grunted, his lungs compressed against his spine, his body still in shock from the impact. However, his mind was alert… wary of the strange sounds serenading his ears and the unwelcome presence of strangers. Laughter and hushed whispers filled his head as his new bed began to rock awkwardly.

Yuuri, on the other hand, sat propped up against the backboard of the cart, smiling dreamily at the icy Beauregard sun, and allowing himself to be enraptured by the gentle moans of his wife. He cast his eyes downward at that peaceful face as those golden lashes trembled lightly like small feathered wings upon those alabaster cheeks. "I'm here, Wolfram," the king reassured him.

The queen couldn't help but smile inwardly at the location of his husband's voice. Meekly he pried his eyelids open only to reveal the faces of two plump joyful children watching him like some creature entrapped in a wire cage. Wolfram flinched nervously. Their eyes beheld him anxiously, chubby little goblins wanting to cut his flaxen hair and sell it for meat in the marketplace…. Perhaps he had been telling his daughter too many fairytales… even so Wolfram had never been particularly fond of young children, with certain exceptions made for Greta and El. "Get away from me," the blonde flailed hopelessly in attempt to shoo them from his presence, however the aching in his chest sent him desperately back to the wooden mattress. The children scurried away gleefully, it was a game to them, spy on the powerless yellow-haired man until he gets too tired to yell at you. Brilliant.

Thus was the play of youth, yet Yuuri took pity on his companion. Solemnly he scolded the mischievous toddlers. "Don't tease him… he's injured badly and needs a doctor."

Wolfram, now coming to grips with his surroundings forced a laugh from his bruised torso, "I'm fine… I'll be up and about by tomorrow." He proudly jutted his chin and clenched his fists in a minute display of strength and endurance.

"I don't think so, Wolfram," Yuuri interjected, "that was a terrible fall. And you aren't going anywhere if I have something to say about it. You're going to just stay in bed an heal."

"You're being ridiculous, I've been through worse than this… , besides, whose going to make sure you take care of yourself if I'm bound to my bed? You need me to brush your hair, and to make sure you eat right… and for your own protection. Who will wash your back? I am certainly not letting Aelis do such an intimate thing with you. Though I'm certain you would like it-"

The king sighed and crawled slowly to his wife's side, "you talk a lot for a wounded man," he murmured sadly. "You'll still be able to brush my hair… and I've washed my own back before, Wolf." He settled himself comfortably in the corner, providing his hip as a softer pillow than the dusty timber. Wolfram was grateful for it.

"Where are we?" The blonde coughed into the soft fabric of Yuuri's pant leg. His emerald eyes struggled to focus. Everything appeared to be a freakish blur fusing with other melting shapes to form a glaringly colorful hell.

Yuuri glanced down at him, "we're in Mrs. Solfege's produce cart. She's said she's going to take us home. We're lucky she and her kids were coming to collect fruit today… and that they showed up when they did… or who knows what would have happened."

The queen grimaced, "you have got to be kidding." Wolfram felt it was suspicious… it was all too convenient… the timing… the cart… why the hell would anyone be picking fruit in this bitter cold? All of the berries were frost bitten… and the larger produce might as well have been orbs of solid ice. No, he concluded, this was not a trustworthy situation. "Yuuri… you shouldn't be accepting rides from complete strangers. It's not safe."

"What else was I supposed to do, Wolfram? There was no way I could have carried you home."

"Yuuri…. This is all too perfect. We get hurt and someone just happens to have a wagon with which to carry us home? It just isn't right." His breath heated the side of Yuuri's thigh as he spoke, breathing in the sandy scent of his king as he tried to keep his mind off of the growing pain in his legs.

His husband grew annoyed. "Can't you just trust someone for once? Have you ever even thought that there are nice people in the world who actually want to help?"

"I'm supposed to protect you, Hennachoko, I can't afford to trust anyone. If even one of them ever hurt you…"

"Stop treating me like a child, Wolfram. Look at the situation we're in. _You're _the one that's hurt, and _you're _the one who now needs protecting. I had to take their offer or you would be worse off than you are." The king was rigid with frustration. "Just try and understand how I felt, Wolfram. You're skin was so cold… I thought you were going to turn into a human ice cube. "

The queen chuckled, yet made no response. It was just like Yuuri to believe such ridiculous things. "That would never happen."

"How can you be so sure?"

Wolfram's verdant eyes beheld him somewhat shocked, "are you truly that dense? Fire is in my blood, there's no way I could 'freeze' to death."

Yuuri rolled his eyes, "Well I don't think you'd be very successful trying to manipulate fire while you're unconscious." I frustration he cast his gaze upwards towards the sky. How could Wolfram always manage to get him upset? Was it his overconfidence? No… Yuuri shook his head, he had grown accustomed to his wife's vanity, but there was definitely something within him that set him at odds with Wolfram. "Just admit you needed help, Wolfram. It's nothing to be ashamed of."

The blonde eyed him and rolled to face the other way. Didn't Yuuri see how hard it was to fulfill that request? As the youngest brother, Wolfram had always been the one who needed to be 'rescued.' He was sick of it. At least when Yuuri had arrived, there was someone who he could protect… now everything was getting knotted the other way around. "Just… let me know when we get there."

"He's a handful," the woman murmured, stealing a glance back at the young king. "Where'd you get this one from?"

"He's my wife," the boy murmured. The question perplexed him, he did 'get' Wolfram. "We kinda just collided one day…" a smile touched his lips at the thought of his first night in Shin Makoku. In retrospect the story of his proposal was funny; though with a look to Wolfram's sleeping face, Yuuri was certain that his wife wouldn't agree.

"A Bielefeld, is he?"

"How did you…"

The lady laughed pleasantly, "My dear, Bielefelds are known for their stubbornness. It's a curse, some say, such fine faces, yet they are sirens who draw unsuspecting mates into chaotic marriages. You certainly got the cream of the crop there, though. I might have fallen for that cherubic physique myself, had I the chance, and would have been grateful for it too. I married a coward of a man who ran off after the twins were born. I tell you…. If I ever see him again… oh boy…" she continued on into statements that the poor boy could not entirely comprehend.

Yuuri therefore sat in a momentary silence, trying to decide whether or not this woman was insulting wolfram or praising him. "Wolfram's no siren… he's just… well… let's just say he hasn't…

"Dear, I have no idea what you are trying to say, out with it!"

The king sighed and ghosted his fingers over Wolfram's pale cheek. "He's often overlooked."

"He is to be pitied then?"

Yuuri chuckled softly, "he wouldn't appreciate it. He hates pity."

Ms. Solfege went quiet. Then softly she whispered, "Sometimes, young one, we resent the things we truly need…" she forced a gentle laugh, "sometimes we might be scared, or ashamed… no one wants to be considered weak. But in the end we all need to admit that once things have run as far as they can without breaking, we need help to grab the reins again."

Yuuri gently eased Wolfram's sleeping figure out of the back of the cart. The dewy grass slipped somewhat beneath his feet, however he found anchoring for his forefoot on a rugged stone that peaked out of the brush. "easy does it," he muttered to himself, trying to both balance Wolfram's weight within his grasp, and to shoo the children away with silent jerks of his head. He mouthed a sincere thank you to Ms. Solfege, and turned towards the house as the horses pulled the kind woman and her offspring into the emerald grasp of the woods.

Upon a second examination, Wolfram's face was painted with a grayish hue, and his eyes seemed to have receded slightly into their sockets. His golden curls were a mess of dirt and twigs and his limbs were scratched, bruised, and blue from the cold. Wolfram… Yuuri sighed to himself, don't you at least have a warmer jacket? He tightened his grip on the sleeping figure in an attempt to shield it from the waves of bitter wind.

Once inside and with the aid of Aelis, Yuuri had Wolfram situated in his own bed. Though Wolfram would protest and claim that the red room had been specifically for Yuuri, the king steadied himself. He would, when such a time came, refuse to budge on the matter. The Crimson Chamber had a larger fire place, and easier access to running water. They would need such luxuries for clean bandages and cold washcloths for the queen's forehead.

"How did this happen, Your Majesty?" Aelis flittered restless about the halls with armfuls of blankets and antiseptic. "It's only your first day here… doesn't it at least require a few days for a disaster to occur? Oh poor master Wolfram…. he must be in so much pain…."

Yuuri sat at the foot of the bed; instinctively massaging his wife's blanketed calf. "He fell…."

The girl stopped on a dime and glared at him, "your majesty, you cannot expect me to believe that this happened because he merely tripped. You don't fall on a trail hard enough to require a cart… a _stranger's _cart for that matter… to carry you home." Shaking her head she set about bandaging Wolfram's forearms.

"He didn't trip," the king muttered. "He fell from a tree."

"WHY DID YOU HAVE HIM IN A TREE?" Aelis nearly face-planted into the hardwood floor at the idiocy. "OF ALL PLACES, WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?"

"Wolfram went up there first! I thought he knew what he was doing." Yuuri clenched his free hand. Why was he explained himself to a maid? He shouldn't have to be put on trial when all he had done was try to help. "My wife's isn't a child, if he wants to climb the tree, who am I to stop him?"

"It's not a matter of authority, Your Majesty, love isn't about who deserves what, its about what's best for the other. You should have tried to stop him because it wasn't safe, not because you have the power."

The boy hung his head, "I made a mistake okay. Yeah. I know, same old story. I do something stupid, and Wolfram gets hurt." Then solemnly he stood, trudged tiredly to the door, and disappeared into the hall.


	7. Chapter 7: I Will Sail My Vessel

The Candlebrook Chronicles

By,

Rune Wolfe

Disclaimer: I own none of Kyou Kara Maou

Chapter 7: I Will Sail My Vessel

"_You know a dream is like a river_

_Ever changing as it flows_

_And the dreamer's just a vessel_

_That must follow where it goes_

_Trying to learn from what's behind_

_And never knowing what's in store_

_Makes each day a constant battle_

_Just to stay between the shores_

_Too many times we stand aside _

_And let the waters slip away _

_'Til what we put off 'til tomorrow _

_Has now become today_

_So don't you sit upon the shoreline _

_And say you're satisfied _

_Choose to chance the rapids _

_And dare to dance the tide…"_

_-Garth Brooks_



"We're going to be buried together."

Yuuri went rigid in the armchair across from Wolfram's bed as the coughing voice broke their ongoing silence. Tilting his head passively, Yuuri murmured, "You're not going to die Wolfram."

The blonde, looking small and insignificant amongst the tide of sheets, remained indifferent. "I didn't say that I was, but when I do, we will be buried together even if we're no longer married.

"And why is that?"

"I need to watch you."

The king seemed amused, " So that you can make sure that I don't cheat in the afterlife?"

"Of course not," Wolfram huffed, "To guard you from tarts and harlots in this life is my duty, but to do so in the afterlife, in the land of pleasure where kings are to be gifted harems which they shall enjoy for all eternity.… well that is indecent. I have to protect you, and make sure you aren't alone." His sickly pale face weakly conveyed his offense at the king's assumption whilst emphasizing his passion for Yuuri. Yet all the while the blonde's lower lip trembled at the mere feat of staying closed. The fever had weakened him drastically.

Yuuri took pity on his wife and stood, moving to the edge of the man's bed. "Your medicine… did you take it today?" He gently traced invisible designs on the back of Wolfram's hand with his fingers. Wolfram blushed at the contact.

"Of course I took it, I always take it."

Yuuri continued, attempting a verbal dance around his suspicions, "Aelis says she keeps finding your pills on the mantel. Have you been forgetting?"

"I've been taking them, Yuuri, I wouldn't forget something so trivial. Why are you so skeptical about this? Don't you trust me?"

Yuuri looked away, "It's just that… it worries me, she swears you haven't been taking them. She says that's why you aren't getting better. She tells me that all you take is the sleeping pill... "

The accusation stirred a great tumult within the Queen, who, clutching the thick blankets with his quivering hands, refused to back down."You'll take her word over mine?"

"If she tells me the truth!" the king exclaimed. "I may not know a lot about your past, but I know enough about your personality to know that… never mind, let's just say I wouldn't be surprised if you weren't taking your pills."

"No Yuuri," Wolfram hissed, attempting pathetically to sit up. Yuuri moved to help the queen but was swatted off like a vile insect. "Finish what you were going to say, I want to hear it. What do you know so well about my personality, hmm? _Please_ enlighten me."

The king hesitated.

"Don't be a wimp, Yuuri!" the blonde snapped, "tell me."

Yuuri sighed and gave in, "I know you've always got something to prove."

"What do you mean? I don't have to prove anything! I am honest and loyal." Wolfram was infuriated, for his husband to claim that he had to give evidence for his character, to suggest that he was anything less than a chivalrous knight, it was degrading at best.

Yet Yuuri just shook his head, "that's not what I meant. You've always felt inferior to your brothers, you always have to show that you can do it on your own, turn everything into a failure or a victory." He couldn't look Wolfram in the eye. "That's why I can believe you aren't taking your medicines. I could just imagine you trying to beat this disease without them just to prove that you could do it without any help."

"Well I don't need medicines to beat this. It's just a cold," the blonde muttered.

"I'm sick of you playing chance! You've been ill ever since you fell a week ago. You haven't left your bed for 6 days! A cold? This is not a cold. You need those medicines, you need those pills." The king pounded his fist angrily into the mattress. "You aren't proving anything except that you're a spoiled brat."

When Wolfram made no reply, Yuuri fell still. The queen's blonde hair curtained his eyes and his lips had been drawn into a tight thread of a frown.

"Wolfram…." the boy murmured nervously, his hand inching towards the blonde's.

"Get out."

Yuuri stammered, "W-what?"

Wolfram's eyes remained steady and unfeeling. "I told you to get out. I'm sick of your sniveling. What I do with my body is none of your business."

"So you lied to me when you said you'd been taking your pills…".

"Get out Yuuri… I'm losing my patience," the blonde's gaze hardened.

The king looked deeply into those fiery emerald eyes, "you don't care… do you? You don't care what happens…" his heart began to race, Wolfram _wanted_ to die. He was _trying_ to. "You're suicidal! You would like that, wouldn't you," the king stood angrily, "you would like to teach me some glorious lesson by killing yourself and leaving me here alone. You want me to feel bad and to suffer-"

"GET OUT, YUURI, JUST GET THE HELL OUT!"

-

-

-

Two or three hours later, Yuuri huddled between the armchair and the footrest in the library. He was furious, he was ashamed and he was miserable. "Dammit, Wolfram," he chanted to himself underneath the soft crackling of the fireplace. "Why can't you just accept help… why can you accept that you can't do this alone… why… why can't you accept _me_?"

The fire snapped and popped as it watched the boy's lamentations. A knock went unnoticed as he became drunk with his own self pity. He angrily thrust his face into his hands, his fingers gripping at the tense skin on his forehead and scalp. Needles shivered along his spine.

Another knock….

The king went stiff, eyes abruptly glued to the thread of light creeping in from beneath the door. The dusky silhouette of feet could be seen. Was it Wolfram? Did he want it to be Wolfram? "W-whose there?"

There was no response, the shadows beneath the door stood firm.

"Wolfram, if this is about what I said earlier, I don't want to talk about it… besides, you should be in bed," the king called to the spirit behind the door. "I'm still mad at you…." He listened carefully for sounds of breathing yet to Yuuri's dismay, his visitor's silence prevailed. He grew nervous, "come on, Wolfram, this isn't funny… you're creeping me out. Come in or leave… the door isn't locked." Wind rustled the branches outside the window, the leaves scraping lightly against the glass. Rather pathetically Yuuri hugged a large pillow to his chest as he stammered, "Wolfram…?" His heart was dancing furiously within his chest, pounding against his lungs and thrusting itself upwards into his throat.

Wolfram had never mentioned ghosts in Candlebrook…

Meekly the boy tried again, pleading with the sadistic presence only a few paces from him, "W-wolfram, please, stop it… I'm not laughing…"

Then finally movement and sound, so small yet so resounding, filled the air. It started with a whispering sigh followed by a sickening creak. The black forms beneath the door began to shift and little by little the curving door knob began to shift and tremble with life.

As a flood of light poured into the king's haven, Yuuri fainted.

-

-

-

It was dark when Yuuri woke on the library floor, the last of the light had faded for this day and the sun had sought rest in the cradle behind the mountains. Aelis was shaking him. "Your Majesty…. Wake up, Your Majesty."

Yuuri groaned as he rolled sloppily onto his back, hairs plastered to his damp cheeks and his eyes quivering as they opened. "What… what's going on?"

The woman stood upright when her task of waking him was successful. "You fell asleep in front of the fire place and you're a sweaty mess." Her hands took place firmly on her hips, commanding the boy king's full attention.

Grunting as he scrambled to his feet, Yuuri massaged his tense scalp. "Did you just come here to berate me?"

Aelis went quiet, "of course not, tis of no consequence to me where you choose to dose off… but I felt you should know… Wolfram's gotten worse."

The king stumbled slightly, thrusting his hands out to find support against the wall. "… what… how… w-why?"

"Now's not the time for questions… he's been calling for you."

Abruptly as she came, she disappeared back into the misguiding light of the hallway.

-

Wolfram's room was… cold. The entirety of it was dismal and suddenly awash with greys hanging like unseen mourning veils from the ceiling. As the Yuuri stepped shakily to the bed, he saw not wolfram or a bed, but a cloud of white with a sickly smear across it, thin and pale. Wolfram. As he drew near enough, the boy latched himself to his wife's hand, clinging to the bony fingers laced with frozen veins as if they formed a thin lifeline. "Wolf…kun?" His words were slow and forced as his throat clenched painfully on each disconnected syllable.

Emerald orbs peaked out from within those newly grey sockets. "Yu..." those dusky lips ghosted about the sound and fell still from the tremendous effort of breathing.

"Is this my fault? Because I got you angry?"

"N…n…" the blonde trembled and closed his eyes. He had given up on trying to speak. He instead reveled meekly in the warm concern in Yuuri's voice… the softness of Yuuri's palm encasing his own hand was a minute moment of exquisite bliss.

"Wolfram," Yuuri trembled, "please stay awake… if you close your eyes… I'm afraid….," he choked slightly on his shy emotions, "…you won't come back."

A sound, abrupt and sobbing erupted from his wife; Wolfram's attempt at a confident laugh. The golden eyelashes quivered and his grip on Yuuri's fingers tightened as muffled coughs tumbled from his lips. The king reached out to stroke that pale cheek and found fire smoldering beneath that velvety skin. "You're burning…" he murmured, his words being drowned in the tense air. Not knowing who to address, Yuuri stuttered. "You… he… Wolfram needs a doctor."

Aelis straightened as she waited beside the door, "one has already been sent for, she should be here shortly."

It was Wolfram's voice which next serenaded Yuuri's ear, "M-my ring."

"What?"

"I want my-my ring…," the blonde meekly guided Yuuri with his eyes to the bedside table, where beside a porcelain bowl and peeking out from beneath a damp towel, was Wolfram's wedding ring. "P-put it on me… I want the doctor to see," his voice dampened to a whisper, "… ours match…."

Yuuri reached for the tiny gold circlet, "did you take it off earlier… after we fought?" Wolfram had never removed his ring before, it was strange and made Yuuri uneasy.

"I took it off, Your Majesty," Aelis spoke, timid yet with a sense of self-importance, "when I bathed his hands and face."

Yuuri merely cast her a dismayed glance and proceeded to fit the ring about his wife's pale fingertip, guiding smoothly to its resting place below that second pale knuckle. Wolfram watched intently as the ring made him whole once more. When he was certain it safely encircled his finger, his peridot eyes slipped closed and a faint smile was dusted across his lips.

"He had refused to let me put it on him," Aelis muttered, "and had yelled when I took it from him. He said only you could touch it."

"Mine matches his," Yuuri sighed, resting his palm on the crown of Wolfram's golden head. "It looks better on him… and he polishes his so much that it shines brighter than Shinou's armor," he chuckled the fell quiet. "Mine has gotten a bit cloudy."

Moving towards him, Aelis held out her hand, "I could polish it for you."

Yuuri smiled gratefully, but withheld his hand. "I don't want to take it off. Besides… it's my wedding ring. If anyone is going to clean it then it should be me. But right now, I don't think I have the right to polish it… my marriage needs to be saved before I can pretend to be happily married by wearing a polished ring."

"Are you saying that Wolfram is pretending?"

"To be honest, I think he has to. I've left him no choice. I mean, come on, who would really believe that being married to the king could be anything less than idyllic. Everything is laid before you. No one is above you, no one can command you."

Aelis nodded, "except your husband."

Yuuri laughed pitifully, blanketing a sob with fake mirth. "Yeah, that is if your husband is _even around_ to command you." Gently he took hold of Wolfram's wrist, thin and bony in his grasp. "I really think being queen is the loneliest job anyone can have. So often you eat alone, sleep alone… w-wake alone." His 

eyes closed tightly as he stilled himself momentarily. "The truth is, the life of a queen is cold and empty."

"How could you know all that?" The woman eyed him, "When it is you who gallops of to the hunt… Maybe he is not alone at all. Maybe Lord Bielefeld flees to the arms of some secret flame as soon as you step out the door. Perhaps his suffering is of guilt rather than need."

"No…," Yuuri sighed, "I wish that were that case… that he could find happiness with someone, _anyone. _ But it's not. I can feel it in him. I can hear it in him. His voice trembles so… so hopefully when I enter the room." The king glanced down at the bedspread. "But you know… it isn't long before his voice becomes dead… you know…broken. Wolfram is broken. And he's lost. He wants me to find him so that I can fix him… make him that same fiery boy he was before."

Aelis stood beside him. "Why haven't you?"

"I can't. The fog around him is thick and I am frightened of what I'll find when I go towards him. It is dark and I am far from him."

"So you are being weak." Aelis's words were curt and bitter. "You've given up."

"Yes… I am weak…," Yuuri released Wolfram's fingers and moved to stand. "But I have not given up."

"Then why do you keep fighting? Why do you strive towards something you didn't want in the first place?"

The king stood motionless for a lingering moment and smiled. "You know… I had a dream the other night. It was the first time I had ever dreamed about Wolfram in… _that _way," He paused and blushed shyly, not certain about discussing such a subject. "He was so beautiful. He is beautiful. But more than that, he needed me. The rougher I was with him, the tighter he held me to him. But everything was just the ghost of a feeling. It was empty and meaningless for me. Like it was a job I had to do, just like signing treaties and holding conferences. I talk to representatives, I make compromises with delegates and at the end of the day I fuck Wolfram. That was my job. That's all our sex had ever been for me. And I realized that night that I had never _made love _to Wolfram. I had never really felt his passion." Yuuri glanced about the room somberly for a moment a breathed anxiously. "Most of all, I realized that I _want _to make love to Wolfram. I want to worship him. I want to anchor him through the storm. I don't want to pretend anymore. No more mindless existence. It's time for me to stop living from day to day based on what I am _expected_ to do for my wife. I need to make life a miracle for him. Remind him what it is about life that is so amazing. Do you understand?"

Aelis raised her eyebrows. "Nice speech. You are very idealistic. Everything you say and do is like some never ending fairytale. But can you really come through when you have to? Are you really going to love Wolfram when this is all over, or will the magic of the moment rub off and you'll just go back to 'fucking' him like a trained animal who only knows so many tricks."

Yuuri smiled knowingly. "You know… Wolfram loved me from day one. Even though he knew nothing about me… he fell in love. And I think…. I think that I can do that for him. I have an advantage anyway."

"And what is that?"

"I already love him."


	8. Chapter 8:The One the Wolves Pulled Down

The Candlebrook Chronicles

Rune Wolfe

Disclaimer: I own none of Kyou Kara Maou

Chapter 8: The One the Wolves Pulled Down  
_"One hand, reaches out_

_And pulls a lost soul from harm _

_While a thousand more_

_Go unspoken for_

_And they say what good have you done_

_By saving just this one? _

_It's like whispering a prayer_

_In the fury of a storm"_

_-Garth Brooks, "The Change"_

_--_

Wolfram struggled to steady his heartbeat as the sound of footsteps and confessions rang in his ears. A doctor spoke in the distance listing things he couldn't hear. Branches tapped anxiously against the window in a fury he refused to see. None of it mattered. Absolutely nothing mattered in his life and the realization burned deeper into his chest as he coupled it with the knowledge that such a realization was a long time coming. Yuuri had admitted it. The words had come straight out of his mouth without any sense of doubt or possibility of falsehood. Wolfram had been a task. Their whole marriage…. He had been a requirement for Yuuri. Never had Yuuri put meaning into his caresses. A tear trickled down the blonde's cheek as he could now see clearly how pathetically he had tried to convince himself that there was love in those hands, in those kisses…. He had been voluntarily… no desperately…. Willing himself into a fools paradise. And now? Now he was a guilt. The thought sickened him to the core yet all the while a flickering of hope was fighting for live in the dark crevices of his mind.

"_I want to make love to Wolfram. I want to worship him. I want to anchor him through the storm. I don't want to pretend anymore."_

Yuuri's voice was ringing like a small bell in the back of his skull, forcing its way down into his heart. "Yuuri….," Wolfram thought pleadingly, "Please don't make me hope again…. It hurts…."

Yuuri watched intently as the doctor felt his wife's throat, biting his lip as the foreign fingers explored more of Wolfram's pale skin. The queen's nightgown had been tugged and pulled off his shoulders and bunched about his waist in order to gain access to his chest. Yuuri could see the boy's muscles shivering in the open air. "Doctor…. He's cold."

"No," the woman murmured, pulling away. A twang of relief tugged at Yuuri's heart as she receded from Wolfram's side. "His body is in shock. It trembles from confusion and exhaustion."

The king paced forward to take the place she had left vacant on the edge of Wolfram's bed. "What's wrong with him?" He gently massaged his wife's still hand. There was something discomforting about the way Wolfram remained indifferent to the people moving about him. The way his eyelids laid closed without life made Yuuri uneasy.

The doctor busied herself with the contents of her bag. "He's exhausted, he's feverish, and he's stubborn."

Yuuri eyed her. "Meaning what, exactly?"

She paused. "He's is the very reason why he is not recovering." Her words were sharp and to the point as if answering the boy's question had been a great inconvenience to her.

"This didn't start with his stubbornness…. You can't get sick just from being a stubborn person. I mean… his eldest brother would be dead by now if you could…" Yuuri entwined his fingers nervously with Wolfram's.

"But it can make things all the worse." The woman straightened and faced him, a tinted glass bottle of an amber shade gripped in her bony hands. "I'll tell you how these things happen, your majesty. It starts with a pain. Not an injury or wound of any visible sort, but a cut deep in the heart of an emotional matter. That cut becomes the focus, the core if you will, of that person's existence. It's there no matter what they do, and it hurts no matter what they try. They try and hide it. The try and pretend it doesn't exist. And eventually this whole act turns to exhaustion and exhaustion when potent enough can be easily transformed into illness. All it needs is a trigger, it can be miniscule, a trip, or large, a fall from a tree. And then when that person becomes feverish they dare to pretend as if that doesn't exist either, they refuse pills, rest, anything that might implicate them as an invalid, and…. here he is, lying in a bed pale as chalk."

Yuuri timidly ran his hand over Wolfram's bare chest, feeling the bones through the cold skin. It was painful to hear the course of Wolfram's suffering laid out before him. It was more proof that the queen's pain had been blaringly obvious to everyone but his own husband. "It's me whose done this to him…" he murmured under his breath, his fingertips lovingly caressing his wife's lips.

From the corner Aelis agreed. "You know that its you, your majesty. You admitted it not an hour ago."

The doctor however, did not share that opinion. "I cannot agree that it is solely your doing, your majesty. Granted you may be part of the problem, but another is most likely Wolfram's pride."

"No, I was terrible to him, it has to be me." Yuuri gripped Wolfram's hand harder.

The woman watched distantly. "And yet he could never tell you. His pride was so great he could not even admit to himself that you did not love him. His ego prevented him from seeking help when your actions made him suffer. This illness is a two person crime. In reality it is two crimes merged into a disaster; one of cowardice and one of self-deprecation and a result of devastation."

Aelis moved forward, "how dare you! Lord Bielefeld is a gentleman and if he withheld his tongue it was only cause he feared hurting this insensitive lout!"

"Stop."

The room went silent as Wolfram's eyed anchored their gaze on the ceiling. All present watched him expectantly.

"Stop arguing," his voice was weak and fading.

Yuuri's instinct told him to draw away from Wolfram, but his hand spurred him to move closer. "Wolfram…." his grip on the man's fingers tightened. "Are you… are you feeling any better?"

Verdant eyes moved to watch him tiredly. "I don't know…. My eyelids…. They're heavy…"

"You're suffering partly from exhaustion, my lord," the doctor interjected as-a-matter-of-factly.

Wolfram ignored her and shivered against Yuuri hip. "It's cold, Yuuri…. Why are you letting everyone look at me like this?" He cast a shamed glance down at his naked abdomen and slipped his eyes closed once more. He didn't want to see them. He didn't want Aelis and that strange woman staring at him.

Yuuri slowly set about fixing Wolfram's nightgown, tenderly setting the fabric over the boy's shoulders and smoothing it. "I'm sorry, Wolfram, the doctor had to examine you… I wouldn't ever do something like that to you…. I really _lo- _c-care about you." He laid the blankets snugly about his wife and combed Wolfram's blonde hair with his fingers all the while mentally scolding himself. _Why didn't I say it? God damn it, Yuuri, for once why couldn't you just say the right thing?_ "Wolf," he dared to try again, "that wasn't what I was going to say…. I was going to say that i-"

"I know what you were going to say, you don't have to start all over again." The blonde's voice felt emotionless and defeated.

"Wolf…I-"

"Please, Yuuri," Wolfram sighed weakly, "I'm tired and I'm in pain… I just want to sleep."

"But Wolf-"

"_Yuuurriiii…."_ The queen groaned; his breath wheezing and shallow. "Please."

The boy backed down. "Alright, Wolf-kun…. If that's what you want…."

Wolfram made no response and remained still with his eyes closed. It was clear he wasn't going to speak any further on the subject.

Dejected, Yuuri turned meekly to the doctor. "Do you have any medicine for him?"

"Indeed," the woman muttered, insulted by Wolfram's failure to acknowledge her existence. She laid out five bottles on the table alongside the amber one. "The green bottle is to help his breathing. He needs to take two in the morning, and one at night. The red bottle is for his pain, take one whenever the pain is too unbearable to stand, but no more than six per day. The blue bottle is-"

"Wait," Yuuri silenced her, "we need to write this down…"

"I already am, your majesty," Aelis announced proudly from across the room. She had pinned a piece of paper against the wall with one hand and was busily scribbling down the instruction with the other. "Continue, doctor, if you will…"

The woman in question nodded. "As I was saying the blue bottle is for-." Yuuri began to drown her out as she droned on, instead turning his attention to Wolfram's peaceful face. Something told him that Wolfram was not asleep, but even so he was not there with them . He was elsewhere, in fantasies and reminisces of happier times. Yuuri envied whoever it was Wolfram was dreaming of, wishing desperately to be that happy memory Wolfram escaped to.

As he came out of his wishing he caught the tail end of the doctors instructions. "And this amber bottle is to help with the pregnancy."

Yuuri straighten d urgently. "Pregnan…cy…." His voice trembled awkwardly. "What are you talking about? Wolfram isn't pregnant… he couldn't be…. We haven't…. not in a while… it's been months…" he clumsily grasped at fragments of understanding.

"Well I don't know what to tell you, your majesty, but there is a child in there. You can feel it when you touch his stomach." The doctor stepped closer to him. "Would you like me to show you?"

"No," Yuuri murmured.

"Are you sure…. If you just feel here-"

Yuuri stood abruptly, "I SAID NO! " Angrily, he fled from the room, not caring whether or not he slammed the door behind him.

-

-

-

At the tomb of the great one, Ulrike and Murata felt a great disturbance. Something had thrown the balance of the unseen out of order.

The great wise man solemnly gripped his chin. "Something's happened…" he paced to and fro over the marble floors, his footsteps ringing through the cavernous room. "All of a sudden, everything just seems… wrong. Restless."

Ulrike gazed intently into the crystalline orb before her. "Yuuri heika's spirit has darkened…"

Murata stopped dead before the large doorway. "And lord Bielefeld?"

The priestess shook her head. "His aura is the same. But heika's… its conflicted…angry, sad, frightened… Come see, you must help me understand this." She beckoned him hurriedly with her pale hand. "Something terrible must have happened to Heika…"

Murata, however, refused to come forward and remained muttering to himself beside the wall. "What could upset him so….no, Wolfram wouldn't have told him….Yuuri couldn't know about- no, that's impossible. We didn't let anyone find out… we made no mistakes… left no traces…. I'm sure of it…." He began to stride anxiously across the room, turning at the fall wall and striding back once more. His heart was racing.

"Don't you even want to see what is happening to his majesty?" Ulrike eyed him with confusion.

Murata paused and finally looked her in the eye. He forced a shadow of his regular smile to his lips. "I'm sure it's something silly. You know how he explodes over the littlest things."

Ulrike hesitated, "I wasn't one to think that Heika blew things out of proportion. He has always seemed to me a levelheaded boy." She gazed once again at her globe of auras, staring through the maze of multi-colored flames and sparks. "I'm not sure, perhaps we should alert Lord Voltaire and Lord Weller-"

At this suggestion Murata took hold of her wrist. "I feel that such an action would be a great mistake on our part." His voice was low and dark.

"Dai…ken..ja…." Ulrike timidly stepped back from her comrade. "What are you hiding?"

Murata was quick to laugh at this comment, brushing it from his mind. "Don't be silly, Ulrike, I'm not hiding anything. Its just that…. Heika and lord Bielefeld went on this trip to heal their relationship, we don't want any false alarms causing that to be disrupted." He released her hand and made his way toward the door. "Don't worry, I'm sure Shibuya is fine."

Ulrike watched in suspicious silence at he disappeared through the door.

Something was definitely wrong.

-

-

-

Yuuri stumbled angrily through the darkness and the mist of the woods. He wanted to get as far away as possible, to Earth if he could.

Yes, he thought, Earth. On Earth there's no Wolfram, no Aelis, no Candlebrook, and no baby. No baby that didn't belong in his wife. No baby that his wife had kept a secret from him. No baby that Wolfram had never made any move to tell him about… each thought fanned the chaos in his heart and pressed him onward into the labyrinth of the forest.

If only he could get home, to Shori, to his mother… to the people he knew he could trust.

Water. If he wanted to get home he needed water….

Then it came to him….

The lake.


	9. Chapter 9: Don't Stop Here Anymore

The Candlebrook Chronicles

By,

Rune Wolfe

Disclaimer: I own none of kyou kara maou

Note: Wow, you guys have some strong emotions about this story. I'm surprised actually, I thought this one wasn't as popular as some of the others…. Anyway, I note a lot of you may hate Yuuri right now… but yeah… let's see how he develops.

Chapter 9: Don't Stop Here Anymore

"_Ah, love me a little._  
_I come of a people_  
_accustomed to little;_  
_Grateful for love that's silent;_  
_Light as a blossom_  
_And yet everlasting_  
_As the sky, as the fathomless_  
_ocean."_

-_Madame Butterfly, Act 1 "Vogliatemi Bene"_

-

Murata sat silently at the far edge of the fountain in the open courtyard of Shinou's tomb. His eyes were intent on the cracking cobblestone beneath his feet. He grasped his head in his hands. Yuuri had found out, he was certain of it. Nothing else could have driven the normally calm and easygoing Shibuya into such a rage. "I was just trying to help," the sage groaned pitifully, "he said he was lonely…."

His heart trembled with each new wave of guilt, fear, and regret. Why did he do it? Why did he give in to those emerald eyes? He had had no obligation to help Wolfram when it was Yuuri who was his best friend. Murata clenched his fists. He had been an idiot to think he was helping, he had been tempted, baited, and was now waiting to be gutted like a mindless fish that had bitten on the wrong lure. He had singlehandedly formed a large and irreparable rift in the kingdom. _"No,"_ he thought, _"not singlehandedly… Wolfram was part of it…." _A twinge of pity grew in his chest at the thought of the queen.

How would Yuuri punish Wolfram? Wolfram undoubtedly would want to be punished…. He would beg for it. In some form it would be a pathetic way of getting Yuuri's attention. A cry for help if one would. A swirl of anger begin to spiral in his heart. What right did Yuuri have to be angry? How dare he be jealous when it was he who had left Wolfram alone on the long cold nights… Yuuri deserved to be punished.

At these thoughts Murata shook his head. No… in truth Yuuri did not _deserve_ to be punished, he just needed to be taught a lesson. The was still a boy, lost and confused in a potentially adult relationship, and though Wolfram was trying to teach him, Yuuri just wasn't getting a grasp on what it was a husband was supposed to be. The sage sighed, muttering a small prayer for salvation under his breath.

-

From overhead, Ulrike watched the Great Wise Man struggle with his private guilt. Though she couldn't place her finger on what was wrong, she knew that the boy before her played a key role in whatever had sent the king into an emotional rampage. She herself now struggled with what to do. She could send for the queen's brothers… but the Great Sage had seemed so desperate to keep them out of the situation. The possibility that he might have a good reason for such a thing left her powerless to seek help.

-

-

-

Yuuri panted from loss of breath as he hiked farther and farther through the fortress of trees. Only recently had he realized that he had no idea where he was going, and no idea where the lake was. He hadn't even seen it… just heard of its existence through Wolfram.

He cringed at the thought of his wife. A mixture of hate, love, and guilt swelled within him. It broke his heart to leave Wolfram in such a state of vulnerability, but at the same time the thought of the foreign life form in _his _Wolfram tore at the sensitive core of his heart like a burr being twisted deeper and deeper into the tender nerves. He loved Wolfram and at the same time he hated Wolfram. Who was the father? Who had Wolfram strayed to? He felt a wave of humiliation as he thought on what Aelis had said to him.

"_When it is you who gallops of to the hunt… Maybe he is not alone at all. Maybe Lord Bielefeld flees to the arms of some secret flame as soon as you step out the door. Perhaps his suffering is of guilt rather than need."_

She had been right, and he had blindly refused to believe that Wolfram could have gone to anyone's arms but his own. He had been a moronic fool to think that his wife would unrelentingly remain loyal to him despite his negligence. Though he was shamed to think it, part of him felt disappointed in Wolfram for not being as strong as he had once thought the queen to be.

Then his thoughts wandered to Conrad and Gwendal, what would they think of him for running off like this? Would they understand? Would they feel that Yuuri had a right to be angry? Wolfram was their little brother… and they were very protective. More likely than not they would side with him, no matter how many lovers he had brought to their marriage bed. Yuuri felt 

sick at the idea that there could have been more than one. There could be ten, twenty, many more for all he knew. Wolfram was a beauty and would not have to wait long for a willing man to pleasure him. The images made the king's legs go weak and rubbery.

"Wolfram… why did you have to do it? Why couldn't you just talk to me?"A tear freed itself from his black eyelashes and fell slowly down his tan cheek.

Despite his anguish, Yuuri continued to march forward.

-

-

-

Wolfram woke to an empty room, his throat sore and his body aching. Where was Yuuri? He weakly gazed about him, taking in the sight of the darkening sky through the window and swirling red curtains which repeatedly blocked the sight of the rising moon. He moved to sit, but was brought back down by a drumming in his head. "Y-yuuri?" He called tentatively. "Yuuri!" His voice strengthened as the rest of his body seemed to wake. ""Yuu-chan," he tried a softer tone, hoping to coax his husband from hiding.

As the door began to shake with life, he grew exited, anxiously awaiting the sight of his beloved's face. But it was not meant to be as Aelis stepped through the door. "My lord, his majesty is not here, can I get you something?"

The queen eyed her. "Where is he?"

Aelis hesitated, "… gone, my lord."

"I am aware," Wolfram responded curtly. "And to _where_ has he gone?"

Again Aelis was nervous to respond. How was she supposed to tell him that his husband had flown off into the woods in a furious rage? "My lord, we don't know where he went…he just… ran out the door."

The blonde shifted to look her in the eye, trying to conceive in his mind what might have happened. Last he remembered Yuuri had been holding his hand and speaking gently to him and trying to confess his love. How could such a scene have gone so wrong? "Why did he feel the need to run out the door? And for that matter… why did no one go after him?"

"When the doctor told him you were pregnant… he got angry. He said it wasn't possible. Then when the doctor tried to show him, he screamed and ran for the woods." The made anxiously rubbed her fingers wishing to be anywhere else. "We were in such a shock at his response that we didn't…."

Wolfram closed his eyes and dropped his head heavily. What had he done? "Send for the town guard," he order brokenly.

"My lord?"

"He's not safe out there by himself… he has no sense of direction and he's never been out there alone before." His voice was tight and he found it hard to speak. "Its going to start raining soon, and once it does… it will be nearly impossible to find him."

Aelis nodded. "I will send for them immediately."For a moment she remained in the doorway. "My lord…?"

Wolfram covered his eyes angrily with his palms, wishing with his whole heart to beat himself. "What?"

"You didn't…. you… weren't disloyal to… I mean…did you make a cuckold out of his majesty did you?" She kept her eyes on the floor as the words tumbled awkwardly from her quivering lips. "You always said you only had eyes for him…"

The queen glared at her. "Get out. There's no time for these questions. Yuuri is out there all by himself, and if someone doesn't go after him soon then…" tears began to stream down his cheeks as he tried vainly to keep talking. But it was no use, sobs and coughs broke his words into pitiful weeping. Ashamed of his weakness he fell to his pillows and buried himself within them. "j-just g-get out," he murmured painfully.

Aelis hurriedly turned and fled from the room, leaving Wolfram alone with his hiccupping sobs. He hadn't done anything wrong. He had had a right to do it. Yuuri shouldn't punish him like this. "Y-yuuri," he wept, chanting that precious name again and again. "Please, Yuuri, come back to me."

-

-

-

Conrad's eyes widened in shock, anger, and fear as Ulrike revealed to him what she had seen in the glass orb. When she spoke of her initial desire to tell him and the Great Sage's initial desire to keep it a secret, Lord Weller had also become suspicious.

"Ulrike, do you have any insight as to what happened?" He held her hopefully in his amber eyes.

"I am sorry, Lord Weller, but I have told you all I know. Heika has become deeply troubled."

"And my brother?"

The priestess hesitated. "It seems he is in pain… but as I have seen through watching his aura over the course of his life… this is often the case." She wrung her hands nervously. She didn't want to say it aloud, but she had always felt that Wolfram had a great tendency for putting himself in painful situations.

Conrad nodded. It was true, Wolfram had fallen in and out of pain throughout his life, and much of it was his own doing. He tended to love people who weren't ready to love or didn't understand how, he would get his hopes high and then see them shattered when the person didn't come through. Still he felt that Yuuri, his king, would finally be the one to break the chain. He had to be, there was so much love for Wolfram in Yuuri's heart, everyone could see it, he just had to recognize and accept it. "I have to go to them… they need help."

"Are you certain that is best, Lord Weller? Lord Bielefeld wanted to be alone with his majesty…

"But if they're in pain, I have to go to them." Conrad eyed the horizon expectantly, yearning to mount his horse immediately and ride to their rescue.

"But my lord…. Isn't pain part of healing?" Ulrike's voice was soft and tender, invoking thought and emotion. "If they do not learn how to handle their pain now…. When will they? You cannot always be their knight in shining armor who rides up on his grand steed at the perfect moment. They must grow and develop themselves."

Conrad was silent for a moment then turned to her pensively. "Ulrike…, why would you tell me of their suffering if you did not want me to go to them? Surely your need to tell me derived from some hope that I could do something about it."

"Yes," she cried exultingly. "But what I had hoped you would do is not go to them."

The man was doubtful. "Then what-"

"My lord, I want to discover what it is the Great Wise Man is not saying, before he can do anything to harm Heika and Lord Bielefeld." She cast a glance over her shoulder to be certain that Murata was not nearby. "Lord Weller, I feel what he is hiding may be the greatest key to easing the king and queen's suffering. He felt it important enough to withhold from you, so therefore it must be something of significance." She pleaded with him body and soul.

"I have no idea how I would get my hands on such information," Conrad protested, lifted a finger to his lips in thought. "I am not a close confidante to the Great Sage. There is no reason why he would entrust such a secret to me."

The priestess would not be put off of the idea. "Then you must create a reason. Lord Weller the whole kingdom knows of your cleverness on the battlefield, let us now see your cleverness at home. Protect Heika from the Great Wise Man. "

-

-

-

At last Murata stood from the chair in his room. Yes, it had to be done. A weight was lifted from his shoulders as he realized fully what it was he was going to do. In its place came a sinking feeling in his stomach.

He was going to tell Yuuri himself.

He nodded once more to the mirror. This was what he had to do.


	10. Chapter 10: Stolen Child

The Candlebrook Chronicles

By,

Rune Wolfe

Disclaimer: I own none of Kyou Kara Maou.

Note: wow… I love hearing all your thoughts about murata/wolfram…. that's very _Interesting_ as I am not a Murata/Wolfram fan…. Anyway, thank you all for reading and commenting, it really helps to motivate me.

And thanks to Pandawolf on LJ for kicking my butt into finding this chapter. Yes, finding. I had misplaced it.

Note #2: I apologize that this chapter is kind of short.

-

Chapter 10: Stolen Child

"_Come away, O human child  
To the waters and the wild  
With a fairy, hand in hand  
For the world's more full of weeping  
Than you can understand." _

- Loreena McKennitt

-

As Yuuri breeched from the darkness of the woods to the moonlit white sands of the lakeshore, he slowed his gait. The waters of the lake washed gently and silently onto the ashen shoreline and the small rock of a lake isle in the center of the sweeping tide stood proud and dark. The night was cold, and as if being woken from a dream, Yuuri began to cower in fear. All around him was emptiness and loneliness and the darkness seemed to thicken before his eyes, silhouetting the ebony forms of trees. He shivered and timidly moved into the glaring moonlight hoping to find sanctuary.

The moon seemed to give the lake life as the waters glowed a soft turquoise. Pathetically Yuuri dropped to the sand. Just a few more steps. That's all it would take to throw himself into the icy grip of the water. It all seemed so simple. Either stay, or go. But there was so much more to it than that. If he stayed… well, he didn't really want to think about what would happen if he stayed. For that matter, things might be even worse if he left.



Yuuri groaned, what had he done? He couldn't abandon Wolfram, especially not in his condition. Yuuri just didn't have the malevolence in his heart to do such a thing. His mind wandered into itself, digging up images of Wolfram doing just the simplest things, drinking tea or walking down the hallway, but all the while divine. His smile in which his pink lips quirked at the corners to form that all-knowing grin. His large spring-leaf eyes that seemed to glow even in the dark…

It was then that the cooing of a bird called him back to the darkness of the night.

He was stuck.

Even if he had wanted to turn back and run to Wolfram, he couldn't. He had made it to the lake by pure chance, and he was certain that he wouldn't have the same luck twice. "Wolfram…," he moaned pathetically into his knees, "… why is this happening?"

The wind rushed past him carrying tender words to his ears. "_Yuuri"_

Yuuri lifted his head in surprise, "Wolf? Is that you?" He flung his head about in a desperate attempt to see anything. "Where are you?"

The wind, just a breath now, whispered once more.

"_I love you, Yuuri…"_

"Wolfram, I love you too! Please, where are you? I'm… I'm scared."

There was no answer.

-

-

-

Murata jerked at the nose strap of his bridle, being certain that it was snug and secure. When he was certain all was satisfactory he moved towards the large trunks in the corner. From there he grabbed his leather pack. Though it was light in traveling terms, it seemed to carry an extra unseen weight. Guilt. Yes, Murata knew it well as it was the majority of what he was taking. It quickened his heartbeat and started a sick dizzying feeling in his stomach. As if hoping to quickly discard it, the great wise man flung the sack over the steed's hindquarters and hurriedly fastened it to the saddle.

He could hear heavy footsteps behind him. He could hear them all day and had chosen, for fear of discovering what might be the source of this intrusion into his private madness, to ignore them. However, now they seemed bolder, more determined to torment him.

"Great Wise Man," a soft yet low voice spoke. "Where is it you are going?"

Murata hesitated before turning to face Conrad head on. However, by the flash of suspicion on his visitor's face he immediately regretted his moment's pause. "Lord Weller…"

The man painted a content smile on his face. So content one might even say he looked furious. "If the Great Wise One would be so kind as to allow me to repeat my question… where would my superior be headed so late at night?"

"It's you whose been following me…" Murata murmured, piecing it together in his head.

Conrad straightened, his regular lightheartedness wholly gone from his visage. "It is my duty to ensure peace and security to his majesty and his subjects." His deep brown eyes held the boy warily. He too was suffering, but not from guilt. Instead he felt utter helplessness. Watching as the world of his loved ones became mutated and cruel.

Murata eyed him. "So you feel I am a threat to that security?"

"I believe you are hiding something of great concern to our kingdom." Conrad stepped closer to ensure that the boy had no escape.

"Ulrike. The priestess said something to you." The great wise man turned to continue working on his saddle, restlessly readjusting his stirrups. "I believe that she and I have a current misunderstanding that will be dealt with when I return."

"The Priestess did confess to me some fears that she had relating to your behavior, and I must be certain that this will not be harmful to either Yuuri or my brother." He solemnly placed a heavy hand on Murata's shoulder. "What are you keeping from us?"

"Lord Weller I…," he thought momentarily before shaking his head, "I must assure you that this is nothing to be distressed about." Murata moved to mount, swing awkwardly into the seat of the saddle with a soft grunt. The horse's hooves tread anxiously on the brick floor. "Now, I must be going to give council to his majesty in relation to… er… celestial providence."

Conrad quirked his head suspiciously, "Celestial… Providence? Why would he need guidance on Celestial Providence?"

Murata nudged on his horse with his heel, encouraging it to prance past his intruder. "Planetary divination is not something that can be ignored, Lord Weller. Now, I must be going." As he retreated from the barn he prodded his mount to a leisurely trot, leaving Lord Weller wide-eyed in the swirling dust of the stables.

The Great Sage sighed, he had escaped.

-

-

-

Wolfram stumbled pathetically as he tried to stand, reaching out to brace himself against the wall. However his reach fell just an inch short of any possible support and he fell to the ground panted and groaning in pain. He was dizzy and his hands were shaking. The town guards had so far failed to produce any part of Yuuri and the blonde was getting impatient. Every new moment that Yuuri wandered in the woods was an opportunity for him to fall into danger. The Candlebrook woods were a thing of legend for laying claim to lost travelers.

Hearing the crashes from within the red room, Aelis scurried in through the door, hurrying to her master's side. "Master, please let me help you."

However with fevered urgency he threw her off. "I can do this myself. I am not wounded." He shakily began again, clinging to the bedspread for strength. As he made it onto his feet he shifted his grip to the bedpost and turned to address the woman still kneeling on the ground. "Ready my horse…" he cast a glance to the window darkened with the moonlit night, "… I'm going after him myself."

"My lord, you can't! You have not healed-"

"You will not tell me what I can or cannot do." The blond was infuriated. "I said ready my horse and you shall do so. Every second you do not do as I say you waste my time and risk leaving Shin Makoku kingless."

"But my lord… please listen to reason."

Wolfram sighed, falling gracelessly to the mattress. "Aelis…. You know as well as I what is out there. You know the unknowable nature of those woods. The trees are full of voices…. full of sweet songs that conceal hateful intentions. There are spirits here…. And Yuuri…. He doesn't understand their nature. He is good and trusting. They will claim him if they can." He bit his lip as a wave a nausea rippled through him. "Aelis… I have to go." He dropped his head to mattress, "please… don't make me ask again."

Timidly Aelis rose from the wood floor. "I understand." With an obedient nod and a small flick of her hair she left as she had come, disappearing into the corridor crowded with soldiers.

-

-

-

Yuuri nervously drew closer to the water in search of those dulcet words he had heard. That voice… Wolfram's voice was coming from the lake. It was almost as if he was there, standing on the shore of the darkened lake isle.

The wind had died and the breathing of the lake seemed to grow louder with each wave rushing over the pebble sands. It sounded like the soft tinkling of rain against stone… but the sky was not weeping. The forest was. It was then that Yuuri felt he had come to the heart of Candlebrook. He was standing on the land's very pulse. There was life he couldn't see.

In a brief moment the branches of the trees stirred.

"_Yuuri… I'm alone."_

Yuuri's heart jumped. The words were so clear, like they were being called to him from across the water. "Wolfram… I…" He hesitated before pacing closer to the water's edge. "I don't know the way back. Please… show me how to get to you… "

As if a spark had flared from the darkness of the island, a figure, glowing eerily like the moon's reflection on the water, began to materialize on the distant shore. Blurry and undefined the creature was golden and white, a sundrop atop a pillar of ice.

"_Yuuri, I'm here… come to me."_

Yuuri remained still. Should he go? The water brushing gently against the toes of his boots was beginning to seep in, soaking his feet and freezing his bones. It was cold… so cold. But the light from this vision was warm and fiery… like Wolfram. Yes. This stranger felt like Wolfram. The gears in Yuuri's mind began to churn backwards, spinning his thoughts and twisting his reason.

It was Wolfram.

Wolfram was alone… he needed him. Yuuri needed to get to his love… to save him from that darkness that was closing in so quickly.

"Wolfram….I'm coming."


	11. Chapter 11: Riddle

The Candlebrook Chronicles

By,

Rune Wolfe

Disclaimer: I own none of Kyou Kara Maou

-

Chapter 11: Riddle 

"As you wish  
For kingdom come  
The one to know all the answers  
You think you dwell in wisdom's sea  
Still, sweet ignorance is the key  
To a poet's paradise  
Challenge the Riddler and you will see

Riddler, Riddler ask me why  
All mothers beneath the Earth and sky  
Hold theait children's hands for a while  
Their hearts forever... yours and mine

Make me wonder what's the meaning of life  
What's the use to be born and then die  
Make me guess who's the one  
Behind the mask of Father and Son"

-Nightwish

-

-

Wolfram groaned as his horse galloped over logs and stones, his ears ringing with sound of the tinkling bit and grunting steed. Burdened by its master's hunched stance, the creature's gait was graceless and uneven. The man was weak and dizzy and had resorted to tying his leg to the martingale with a belt which caused him to jerk awkwardly with every stride forward. With one hand he gripped the leather reigns, the other he used to shield his face from branches and vines sent flying by their intrusion.

"Please be at the lake…," Wolfram murmured into his bloody lip. As his horse cleared another fallen branch he felt bile burning in his throat. His fever was catching up with him. That burst of energy that had come with his concern for Yuuri was being beaten back by his weakness.

Tha-dump, Tha-dump, Tha-dump

The horse's hooves left the grassy hills for the hardened earth of the woods. The darkness seemed to thicken as the world was transformed into a hall of misty trunks and gnarled tree limbs. The moon was broken here with little pieces of it pooling through the branches onto the muddy ground. Notte bounded forward without a care for the growing mist that began to conceal his path. His Master, unable to urge him on with his heels, entreated him with soft groans and coughs to move onward.

Though the wind was silent, the forest was filled with sound. Whispers and rustles flittered past like small winged birds beckoning them to abandon the trail.

The dimming light of the town guard's lantern's died completely away as Wolfram ventured farther from the group, riding headlong into towards the beating heart of Candlebrook. Here the trail vanished and the trial of twisting and winding through dense brush began.

-

-

-

Murata gripped the reigns as he slowed his horse from a gallop to a lazy canter. When taken all at once at a hurried pace on an individual steed, the ride to Candlebrook could be shorted to 3 to 4 hours. As he neared the final bend, he could see lights like large fireflies dotting the blackness of the forest.

Such a thing puzzled him as he was aware of no such creatures being known to inhabit the area. Eagerly he shortened the reigns and halted his mount outside the wooden gate, a guard quickly arrived to assist him with his horse. However the great wise man refused to dismount until given an explanation. "What is going on here? Has a crime been committed?" He glanced about, taking in the sight of scurrying soldiers and townsfolk forming search parties.

"No, my lord," the man explained timidly, "for you to arrive here at such a moment we had suspected that you knew… but his majesty has run away."

Murata was drawn aback. "When did this happen?"

"Today, in the early morning… this is what I was told." The soldier was nervous and shook slightly to be in the Great Wise Man's presence. "It was when the doctor came to examine Lord Bielefeld."

"There is something wrong with Lord Bielefeld?" The black-haired boy eyed him with a sense of urgency, as if willing the answers to appear before him. This entire situation was unsettling beyond reason and Murata had half a mind to bolt right then and there, yet he restrained himself.

The soldier shifted his weight awkwardly. "He was ill… His majesty had sent for a doctor. But that was hours ago…."

"Where is Lord Bielefeld? I must speak with him"

"He's gone, my lord, he went after his majesty."

The sage stared for a moment. "Despite his illness?"

The soldier nodded, "he would not be told otherwise. He said it was he who would be know where to find his majesty."

"That sounds like him," Murata murmured to himself. It was no surprise that Lord Bielefeld would be so irrational. Then looking to the soldier, he spoke more urgently. "Is there a large body of water nearby?"

"There is a lake, my lord."

Murata quickly jumped from the saddle, his feet meeting abruptly with the damp ground. "Go there, that is where you will find his majesty. Where is the caretaker of the house? Is anyone here that can elaborate the details for me?" The great sage interrogated the soldier as he paced briskly to the house.

"Miss Aelis... the maid, she is at home. She witnessed the situation." The soldier seemed unable to keep up with the sage's brisk walk.

"Then bring her to me."

-

-

-

Every light burned in the Candlebrook Cottage as midnight was giving way to the earliest hours of the morning. In the study, Murata was seated in a large armchair facing away from the fireplace, causing the light to dance and play on the bindings of the books shelved before him. Aelis sat nearby.

"Why did Yuuri run?"

The woman eyed him nervously. "The doctor said the Wolfr- I mean, Lord Bielefeld was pregnant." Her words were slow and steady. Something about this visitor made her nervous. He was hiding something.

Murata leaned back into the chair warily. "This upset him?"

"He claimed that it could not be his child… I assume he meant that he and Lord Bielefeld have not embraced in a long time." She unknowingly began to twist her finger into her hair. "He grew angry at the thought of someone else touching his husband in such a manner."

"The way he was not long ago, Yuuri viewed Wolfram first and foremost as a friend… not as a sexual creature," the Great Wise Man mused. "It's hard to marry so young. Yuuri had no understanding of romantic relationships. He had no idea what he was getting into. It's a little unfair."

"Of course it is! He neglected Lord Bielefeld." Aelis grew upset at the thought of what pain Wolfram had had to go through.

Yet Murata shook his head. "I meant for Yuuri."

"How…?"

Murata forced a soft chuckle from his throat. "He never had a chance to learn any of these things. He didn't get to explore himself romantically. A person needs to experience insignificant relationships in order to truly appreciate significant ones. Yuuri was just a boy and Wolfram wanted him to commit for 

the entirety of their lives. Yuuri had never even been on a date before… how could he possibly be ready for marriage?

Aelis pouted. She knew he was right, but she refused to believe that Lord Bielefeld had done anything wrong. "He's the one who accepted it. He's the one who decided to have a wedding. It's not fair for Wolfram."

"Now play fair." Murata scolded. "You know very well that Wolfram would not have given him up so easily. Of course it is a terrible thing that happened to Lord Bielefeld, but we must see the wrongdoings on both sides of this war." He laughed as Aelis's face took on a very Wolfram-like expression. "Tell me… are you related to the Bielefeld family?"

The girl laughed. "Of course not, you think if I were a Bielefeld that I'd be a maid? I'd be some grand genteel lady like Lady Spitzweg."

Murata then grew silent. "Now… we have strayed too far from the point. Please, how was Lord Bielefeld taken ill?"

Sighing, the Aelis retold the tale of the fateful day, expressing fully the carelessness of the young king for allowing his bride to venture so far up into the tree. Murata watched her knowingly, seeing in his mind the unbiased play of that day's events. He could envision the sickening sight of Wolfram crashing to the ground and he could hear the frightened cries of his king.

"Such a sad accident…," he murmured.

Yet the girl's thoughts elsewhere. Focused on this newcomer's black hair and eyes. His charming smile and his skin that all to easily conjured visions of the king. They were similar. Enough to be a comfort to one who longed for the other.

"My lady, there is a question in your eyes." Murata eyed her suspiciously. "Ask if you wish to do so."

She dared to look into his eyes. "I fear that you might find the question… inappropriate."

Murata quirked his head eagerly to the side as he stood. His face had a 'oh well then' feeling about it. "This is your only chance…"

As he reached for the doorknob Aelis stood. "Wait."

"Have you changed your mind?" Murata glanced back to behold her anxious face. "Well…?"

"Are you the father?"

There was a moment's pause as the Great Wise Man seemed to fall into deep thought. He realized then how careless he had been to tempt her. The grimness of reality began to sink back into his skin. Slowly and emptily he answer. "I feel that such a question _is _too inappropriate under such circumstances. However... to dispel any spreading of such things… no. I am not the father. " He sighed deeply. "But I did indeed help with the conception of this child."



With this he vanished behind the door.

-

-

-

Yuuri's body shivered violently as the icy waters engulfed his legs, the feeling of knives in his skin being numbed and forgotten as the king forged onwards into the embrace of the lake. In his mind he felt no pain. He did not feel himself growing breathless or recognize the slowing pace of his heart.

He could hear the voice. All he could hear was that voice.

"_Yuuri… we will be lovers forever if you come to me…"_

"Wolfram…," The boy king reached out desperately, his feet slipping on the pebbly floor of the lake. "I want to be with you…"

The wind rippled across the lake surface, enlivening the darkened trees which danced and swayed to reveal more of the full round moon.

"Wolfram… we're going to be together."

In an instant his head began to spin and his eyes began to blur. He was being pulled downwards as the merciless water engulfed his shoulders. As his head fell beneath the surface of the water, everything disappeared.

It was cold, quiet, and black.

All black.

' Please Wolfram… Save Me.'

-


	12. Chapter 12: A Prayer

The Candlebrook Chronicles

By,

Rune Wolfe

-

Disclaimer: I own none of Kyou Kara Maou

Chapter 12: A Prayer for Something Better

"_There are some days, dark and bitter,_

_Seems we haven't got a prayer_

_But a prayer for something better_

_Is one thing we all share"_

_-Celtic Woman, "Someday"_

_-_

A branch bitterly slapped Wolfram's pale cheek as his horse galloped onward towards the lake. Moonlight was beginning to stream through the trees ahead of them, stronger and more vibrant than before, signaling a clearing ahead. "Come on," Wolfram grunted, re-gripping the reins as best he could. His steed panted and heaved with the effort of dodging tree trunks and clearing fallen tree limbs, but pressed onward nonetheless. "Almost there…."

The air was cold and damp, seemingly freezing Wolfram's lungs each time he drew breath. To every side of him the play of the starlight seemingly manifested itself into eyes and teeth. The forest was alive and very much awake and slits of white seeped through the brush before. They drew nearer and nearer to that glow until finally they became violently immersed in it.

In an instant the forest disintegrated into sheer moonlight and starry sky. The sound of hoof beats became dull as the horse's hooves drove awkwardly into the soft sand of the lakeshore. Wolfram was thrust awkwardly to the side as the creature momentarily struggled to regain steady footing. Tugging at the leather straps, the Queen slowed his mount, his emerald eyes hopelessly scanning the beach.

"Yuuri!" He cried, his voice breaking slightly as a twinge of pain tore through his stomach. "Y-yuuri!" He guided his horse in a hurried circle, desperately seeking any sign of Yuuri, yet finding nothing.



The wind rustled through the trees, and internally Wolfram cursed it, fearing its howling my cover the sound of his husband's voice. Everything here was in conflict, the brightness of the moon, the darkness of the trees; the crying of the wind and the silence of the lake. It was eerie. A sinking feeling began to grow within Wolfram. The sand shone dissonantly as if mixed with quicksilver and limestone. Eagerly he dug his heels into his horse's sides and took off towards the Eastern shore.

"Yuuri!" He cried again, gaze intent on the sand and forest. Yet it was then that a splash from the lake captured his attention. Wolfram halted his steed and listened. The sound came again, broken and out-of-place. Over the whistle of the breeze and the rustling of the trees, he swore that he could faintly hear the sound of his name being cried into the night sky. The prince kicked his horse into motion, pressing closer to the washing waves of the lake. Eyes narrowed, Wolfram scanned the surface of the water, seeking the source of the sound. Not far out from shore he saw the white thrashing of a dark figure. His heart plummeted within him. _Yuuri. _

"YUURI!!" He cried, gripping the saddle firmly as his steed danced impatiently. He didn't know what to do. If he tried to swim, he would most likely drown before he got to Yuuri. If he waited for help, there was no doubt Yuuri would die.

Then the splashing ceased. The Queen's heart stopped. He was dead. All his mind kept telling him was that his precious Yuuri was dead.

Without a second thought Wolfram snapped the reins and smacked the horse's hindquarters. "Ya!" he commanded. Confused, the creature hesitated. Its master was driving it towards the dark water. "Ya!" Wolfram cried again, adding a kick for emphasis. Finally the horse was persuaded to lunge forward, crashing into the icy grips of the lake.

"Yuuri, I'm coming," Wolfram cried, screaming over the splashing kicks of his mount. The water began to rise quickly, claiming the prince's calves and thighs as they surged onward into the current. "Y-yuuri." His teeth began to chatter and his muscles began to tighten as the freezing liquid began to soak his torso. The horse whinnied with fright as its legs began to slip. They were nearing the drop off, pretty soon there would be no more underfooting.

"It's alright," Wolfram murmured weakly, quickly patting the animal's neck. "He's nearby, he's around here somewhere." Tentatively he began thrusting his arms through the surface, feeling for any part of Yuuri. For a few long sickening moments there was nothing, the veins in his hands feeling as if they were being turned to stone. Yet still he searched, and still he found nothing. Nothing but empty water until FINALLY his fingers met with silky strands of black hair. Wolfram thrust himself forward in the saddle, his upper body slapping against the surface of the lake as he grappled with the current for ownership of Yuuri's thin frame. After moments of frantic grabbing, Wolfram tugged the king from the icy froes of the water, pulling him feebly over the horse's withers. With an abrupt yank of the reins and a faint nudge of the heel, the Queen spun his horse around and urged it onwards towards the shore, all the while keeping a firm grasp on Yuuri's shivering body.

-

Yuuri's head was spinning from lack of air and lack of warmth. In his ears the splashing of the horses hooves emerging from the lake sounded like the crashing of a thousand waves onto solid rock. He groaned.

A hand, cold and trembling, held firm to his back, keeping him in place as they began to gallop away into darkness. As he tried to breathe deeply, his body shuddered with coughs, spitting up water and sand onto the blue fabric of his savior's pants. The hand massaged his back and stroked his hair.

"I-it's o-okay, Yuuri."

The boy blinked his eyes slowly, focusing in on the familiar sound of that voice. Those words were like a god sent gift, each filled with love and concern warming him from within. His lungs convulsed and his throat heaved forward yet another mouthful of lake water as he tried to speak. His lips were gray as he pathetically strained to form words. "Wolf-Wolfram."

"Shh, Yuuri, save your strength," the Queen's voice was soft and beautiful.

Weakly, the king reached out his blue-tipped fingers and took hold of Wolfram's hand, hanging on for dear life to that little piece of Wolfram. "Wolf-fu." Bringing his face forward he pressed his mouth numbly to the back of that pale fist which gripped the horn of the saddle to safeguard Yuuri from the enemies in the night. "Wolf…"

-

Wolfram blinked back tears as Yuuri tried pathetically to kiss his hand. "Yes,y-yes, Yuuri. I-I'm here." He momentarily moved his palm back to Yuuri's shoulder to give it a reassuring squeeze, then returned it to the frozen leather of the saddle. "Just s-stay awake, alright? Please stay awake."

He was getting dizzy and as he tried to hold firm to the reins, he found his grip slipping with each unexpected jump. As they round a bend, his sight flashed, blinding him momentarily. He was losing his strength. "Yuuri," he chanted to himself, trying to stay conscious. "Yuuri…. I'm right here…. I-it's alright."

Suddenly his horse struck one of its tired legs against an outstretched branch. Time seemed to slow drastically as the sudden change in momentum thrust the forward then sped up dramatically as they were sent tumbling to the hard ground. Wolfram was slapped roughly against the earth, being dragged across fallen twigs and jagged stones as his horse struggled to find footing, Wolfram's leg still lashed to the twisted martingale. Yuuri was flung to the side, thumping gracelessly against the trunk of a tree and falling into a tangle of vines and underbrush. Finally the horse lay still on its side, exhausted and injured.

The fabric of Wolfram's pant leg had been torn to shreds in his effort to be free of its trap and the hard leather of the martingale had cut a deep gash into his thigh, digging its way further underneath a bloody flap of skin cut free from his bone. The blonde's eyes fluttered wildly for a long moment before falling shut as his mind slipped away from the pain and nausea laying claim to his body.

-

-

-

Ulrike trembled with fright as she witnessed Wolfram's life-light flicker and dim in the dark clouded center of her crystal orb. "Lord Bielefeld," she murmured, her hands slipping smoothly across the sphere's surface. "Please be alright." Her eyes were intent on the traveling stars and sparks that flamed and burned before her, prayed that the Queen's weakening light would regain strength and flourish once again with its past passion. "Fight, Lord Bielefeld, you must fight. Shin Makoku needs you."

"Damaia!" She cried suddenly, screaming the name to the heavy rod iron doors. "Damaia!" Slowly the doors began to stir and open, allowing the light of the moon to flood across the marble floors. One of the female temple warriors entered obediently through the entryway. Tall with thick locks of chocolate brown hair, her stride was strong and confident.

"My lady," the woman bowed reverently, "what is it you need?"

The priestess dropped her head sadly. "Please," she murmured, "you must take a message to Lord Weller immediately." Her white hair, tinted with pale shades of blue and lavender fell tiredly over her shoulders as she moved to kneel on the ground. "His help is need right away."

Damaia nodded, straightening her back and holding her chin high in reverence. "What must I tell him?"

"That his majesty and Lord Bielefeld are in danger. He must go to Candlebrook at once or we might lose them." Ulrike turned her attention back to her crystal orb. "Their light is weakening as we speak… there is no telling what horrors are taking place." _With his eminence there…_ she thought to herself.._he may have something to do with their intense suffering. _

"But, my lady," the warrior moved to protest, "Candlebrook is hours away… there is no way he will make it in time… if their lives are in danger…" Her dark ponytail swung furiously as she spoke.

"We must do something!" The priestess cried, her small pale fists pounding softly against the cold crystal. "We cannot stand by and do nothing. For days now this suffering has endured, in truth from the day they were married they lost some of their vibrant light… but never, never have I seen their energy fall so weak so quickly." Her voice trembled, her eyes getting lost in the dark void of life energies. "Something terrible must be happening."

Damaia nodded, "I understand. I will leave instantly." With a quick bow and muttered prayer, she turned quickly and sprinted through the doorway.

"Your Majesty," Ulrike whispered, "Please don't lose strength."

-

-

-

Yuuri shivered against the damp ground, his body trembling with faint convulsions and heaving coughs. He fought to steady his sight, trying to pull together the flashing shards of light and dark into a comprehensible scene. He could see Wolfram's hand lying cut and motionless across the dirt. He could see his golden hair, tangled and knotted with leaves. And for a long moment Yuuri felt as if they had gone back in time… that he was watching Wolfram lying at the foot of that tall tree once more. But as his eyes cleared of dust and colorful dots they came to lay upon the garish sight of the martingale twisting about Wolfram's pale leg, turning grey with the loss of blood. "W-wolfram!" Yuuri moved to try and wake him like a fish thrown from the river that was suffocating on the shore. "W-wolf!"

There was no movement or response. The blond remained silent and still, his chest rising and falling slowly and without rhythm. Yuuri splayed himself out across the trail, groping hopelessly to get closer. If the leather wasn't cut, Wolfram could lose his leg. "Wolfram, come on, wake up," he whispered, his blue lips weakly forming the words with dramatic effort.

"I am awake," Wolfram murmured, his voice low, steady, and surprisingly strong for his current condition. He had been lying there listening to the sounds of his husband stirring with life all the while reminding himself of how he was a failure. His passion and determination was gone from him now, and his face was dark and solemn. Though his heart beat steadily, it was shattered into a million pieces which jabbed and shredded at his insides, causing him bitter pain with each breath he took.

Yuuri's mind raced. So many things to say, yet so little strength to say it with. The breath still drained from his frozen lungs him attempted to speak again. "Wolfram, you have to get that t-thing off you leg." He rested his cheek against the ground, slipping his eyes closed to make the world stop spinning.

"I can't, Yuuri," Wolfram whispered, defeated. "I can't even move my fingers."

Yuuri's heart fell. "You have to do something! If… if blood d-doesn't get back to your- to your leg… than you could lose it…." He dragged himself timidly forward into the puddle of moonlight pooling between them.

Wolfram groaned. "What am I supposed to do, Yuuri?!" He snapped, gasping back a sob that threatened to break free of his lips.

The king was taken aback by Wolfram's bitterness, the words stabbing him like sharp knives. "Fine…," he muttered quietly, "… if you can't… than I w-will." He began to slide awkwardly over the rocks and stones towards the horse, laying as still as its master.

"Ha…," Wolfram laughed quietly, "what could you possibly do? You're not in any better condition yourself."

"At least I can move!" Yuuri grunted, still struggling to take hold of the girth. He needed to find Wolfram's dagger… or if not that, at least something sharp enough to cut the sturdy strap of the belt. Desperately he began shuffling through the tack, his frozen hands slipping numbly from their work and a dull pain made itself known in the back of his skull. As he work the rest of his injuries began to follow suit, manifesting themselves as if they were fresh wounds obtained by fiddling with the saddle. A sense 

of nausea began to dig in his stomach and finally the cold took charge of his nerves. His body shook uncontrollably.

Wolfram began to get worried. "Yuuri, stop, you need to save your strength."

"After… I save…. your leg," the king coughed definitely, spitting up a fistful of bile onto the mud. "I don't want you… to suffer… anymore."

The queen sighed, cursing his own weakness as his feelings of love and loneliness flooded back to him two-fold. Meekly his rolled his head to one side. He wanted to look at Yuuri, to see his desperate actions and to truly comprehend that all of his torturous effort was for him. "Yuuri… please…" his voice grew soft and tender, "if you don't save your energy… you'll freeze. You need a doctor."

Yuuri panted heavily, air escaping his lungs with every new movement. "Don't…. be silly… Wolfram… I don't feel… a thing."

"That's because your body is in shock…" the boy mumbled. "Just rest…. Someone will come…and…."

The king went still when the sentence fell through the air, incomplete and open ended like an unfastened rope cast carelessly into the water.

"Someone will come and what, Wolf?"

The only answer was an owl hooting in the distance.


	13. Chapter 13: Come Away

The Candlebrook Chronicles

By,

Rune Wolfe

Disclaimer: I own none of Kyou Kara Maou

Chapter 13: Come Away

"_Once upon a time, we were flying_

_Once Upon a time, we were free_

_Life once let us go as far as we could go_

_Always remember once upon a time with me_

_Then we lived our lives like a story_

_And the story plans what will be_

_Where this life will go_

_I don't pretend to know_

_Please don't forget that once upon a time with me_

_Where one story ends, there's another_

_It's all up to us, don't you see?_

_You say 'let's begin' _

_And I say 'once again'_

_And you'll find it's not 'once upon a time'_

_But here and now and you and me."_

_-"Once Upon a Time"_

--

"Wolfram?"

The blonde stirred. "Shh, Yuuri…"

The king eyed him timidly, an innate fear growing within him at his husband's sudden silence. "What… what's wrong?"

"My head hurts."

"Oh…," Yuuri murmured, falling silent for a long moment. The heavy dagger in hand and his fingers gripping the saddle's girth for support, he felt both weak and empowered. His body had been beaten and torn, yet the feelings within him seemed instantaneously clarified. For the first time since he had arrived to Shin Makoku, he could understand his emotions and from them he could draw the strength to say with truth and conviction what he had been trying to say this whole time. "Wolfram…"

The blond groaned, "Not now, Yuuri."

"I love you."

Wolfram went rigid, the bruised bones in his spine locking and unlocking with hesitation. There was strength in that voice. There was honesty. The queen lay, quietly trying to wrap his mind around the very idea. Yuuri had said those words before. Or at least he had tried. But never before had Wolfram allowed himself to truly believe them. "Yuuri… what?"

The boy began to shuffle in his direction, crawling weakly towards him with a determined fire burning in his eyes. "I love you, Wolfram."

"Stop saying that."

"Why"

Wolfram closed his eyes tightly, fighting back tears and sobs. How weak was he that he couldn't hear three simple words without breaking. But in all honesty, the words weren't simple at all. In them was all the validation and adoration that he had so sorely desired. But now that they were laid before him without pause, they frightened him. "You don't mean it."

Yuuri flung himself closer, hands gripping at Wolfram's hips and torso. He wanted to look into the man's face, to see those beautiful eyes and to force him to recognize the certainty in his confession. "Yes I do, Wolfram."

"Stop lying."

The boy became frustrated, pressing his forehead desperately to Wolfram's chest as if willing Wolfram's heart to open and embrace him. "Please… you have to believe me. I _love _you. Only you..."

Wolfram bit his lip, refusing to succumb once again to that sweet voice, to those gentle hands. "I don't have to believe anything, Yuuri." His voice was stern and cold with a carrying sense of forced bitterness. Yet despite his outward disposition, Wolfram's heart began to race beneath Yuuri's warm cheek. "If you loved me… you wouldn't have run off like that when you found out that I was pregnant."

"I was scared, Wolfram!" Yuuri mumbled into the fabric of his beloved's shirt. "It was all happening so fast… and I never…"

"You never what?" Emerald eyes held him anxiously.

Ashamed, Yuuri could not meet them. "I never thought… that you would give yourself to another…" His voice fell in a steady pattern, softening with each word. "You had always promised to stay mine… no matter what…."

Wolfram sighed. Tiredly he blinked away tears and freed his lip from its trap between his teeth. "It's your child."

Yuuri froze. "It's… mine? But how…?"

"Yuuri…," the blond coughed, hesitating for a long moment. "The child is yours, it has been from the beginning. I promise." He shuddered as he tried to summon the strength to sound annoyed. "I won't lie… I thought about cheating on you, I had offers, and there were a few times when I sure as hell wanted to…. "

The king nuzzled meekly into his husband's chest. "But you didn't."

"No." Wolfram sighed. "No, I didn't." Casting a quick glance down at Yuuri's dirty beaming face he blushed. "B-but… that doesn't mean I didn't have the right to do such a thing." He did his best to 'humph' and pout in his old familiar way.

Yuuri's grin fell. "You're right, Wolf. You did have a right to leave me. I was terrible to you… I mean… look where I've brought us."

Wolfram forced an understanding smile to his lips. "This isn't so bad, I've had worse… and besides… it's not _all _your fault. I may have done a few things wrong." Slowly and shakily he began to regain the will to move his arms, bringing a trembling hand up to pet the wet locks of Yuuri's hair. "Yuuri… despite everything that has happened… I am glad you're with me."

"Me too, Wolf," Yuuri murmured. "Me too."

"Yuuri?"

"Hmm?"

Wolfram shifted his torso slightly as he tried to look Yuuri in the eye. "Why did you try to drown yourself… was the idea of being married to me that bad that you felt you had to end your life?" His emerald gaze was fraught with fear and insecurity. "Were you trying to get away from me?"

Yuuri shook his head furiously. "No, Wolf. It's not like that at all…"

"Then why…?"

The boy breathed deeply, "I was trying to get _to _you."

Wolfram scowled. "That is absolutely ridiculous, Yuuri. How dare you think that I would fall for such a thing." Pathetically he began trying to push his husband off, enraged that Yuuri had mistaken him for such a foolhardy sap. "You knew that I was back at the house… you knew! Don't even try to tell me that you didn't! One minute you were holding my hand and the next minute you were gone!"

Yuuri struggle to restrain his husband, not wanting the man to further injure himself. "Wolfram, wait, please listen. That's not what I was trying to say." He flung himself over his lover's waist with great effort. "There was a voice."

"What voice?" Wolfram stilled.

Yuuri exhaled with relief as the blond grew calmer. "Your voice, Wolfram. It was coming from the island in the middle of the lake. It was weird. You were calling to me, and promising me things… and I was frightened. But when I asked the voice to show itself… there you were… standing on the shore across the lake." The image of the golden figure made him shiver. "You were _glowing._"

Wolfram groaned. "Even if that's true, even if you saw and heard something… how could you think I wanted you to drown yourself?"

"You said that you were alone… and if I came to you then we would be together forever." Yuuri murmured. "It was you! I swear it was. You… or some other you was standing there calling for me… so I went. I didn't think I would drown."

Wolfram blushed. "You went because you wanted us to be together forever?"

Realizing how vulnerable he had just made himself, Yuuri reciprocated Wolfam's blush. "Uh… yeah… I guess. I mean… it's what I want to happen… so it sounded pretty nice." He timidly fingered the fabric of Wolfram's dirt covered coat.

"Yuuri…" tears began to fall on the queen's pale cheeks. "I want to be with you, forever."

The king leaned forward to comfort him, stroking his blond hair and cupping his damp cheek. Even with the dirt and scratches Wolfram looked like a divine angel. "O-okay, Wolfram… let's do it. But there's something I've got to do first."

"W-what?" The blonde gripped Yuuri's upper arm tightly, afraid that he would leave again.

Yuuri smiled tenderly and kissed the man's trembling lips. "I'm not going anywhere, Wolf. I've got to cut this thing off your leg." Gradually, he pulled out of Wolfram's grasp, holding the queen's eyes to be certain he knew that Yuuri would not abandon him. "This thing has to come off." Yuuri then lay gently against Wolfram's side, hands shivering as they tried to steady the blade of the knife. His arms were 

weak from struggling in the lake, and the bones in his legs ached with exhaustion, but he was alive and in better condition than his beloved. Therefore, he had to do this. "Don't worry, Wolf, I'll be careful."

Gradually he brought the thin blade of the dagger to the dusty leather, slipping his own hand as best he could underneath the strap to shield Wolfram's thigh from any cut that went too far. Wolfram grimaced and hissed at the feel of someone's hand on his open wound and cried out as the belt tightened around his raw skin. Yuuri began to work quickly, running the knife like a saw back and forth over the material, angling it as to best slice through the thick strap. His fingers began to slip as they were steadily coated with Wolfram's hot blood, and he jumped at each new sound of pain that erupted from Wolfram's pink lips. "I'm sorry, Wolf, almost there…"

At last the martingale snapped in two, freeing Wolfram's limp leg, cold and numb from its deprivation of nutrients and warm.

"There," Yuuri mumbled, growing tired from his efforts, "Everything is going to be… okay." Giving up on trying to stay awake, he slumped back to the ground and sighed, nuzzling into the little warmth left in Wolfram's body. "You'll see… Wolfram….you'll see… we're going to save ourselves. You'll see."

Wolfram, eyes also drooping with sleep, kiss the crown of the boy's head and breathed in deeply. "I hope so, Yuuri."

-

-

-

Aelis entered the library gracefully carrying a tray laden with tea and tarts. The warmth of the fire and the coziness of the room greeted her first, before the sight of the Great Sage pouring ponderously over old portraits of Wolfram and his family. "Your Grace," she called to him softly, announcing her arrival, "I have brought you something to eat… its late… I thought you might be hungry."

Murata seemed to jump at the sound of her voice, having immersed himself in Lord Bielefeld's expressions of the past. He seemed just as melancholy, just as surly, and just as _divine _as he was at current. Murata's eyes could not leave him. He was beautiful, he was sensuous… he was something so _familiar _to him, like a love taken away, then used to cruelly tease him.

"Your Grace?" Aelis tried again.

Once again Murata seemd surprised to see her, as if he had forgotten in the past 20 seconds that she had even entered. "Oh, I'm sorry, I'm feeling a little off." He smiled his usual goofy smile and reached for the steaming cup, "thank you, this is very kind." His fingers shook lightly as they cradled the small ceramic bowl. "It smells wonderful."

Aelis hesitated. "Your Grace… is something wrong?"

Murata shifted his gaze from her. "Why do you ask? Do something concern you?" The cup clicked gently against its matching saucer. No matter how hard he tried, the Great Sage could not cease his hands from trembling. _My own body is a traitor to me,_ he thought darkly.

"Not exactly… It's just… I don't see how looking at my Lord's portraits will help him in anyway." She eyed the portraits warily. She had thought that she had hidden them perfectly, yet it seemed that the wise man had found them with ease. Either that, or he had gone out of his way to find something with Lord Bielefeld's picture on it.

Murata's heart jumped. Beneath her words seemed to be a hidden accusation. An accusation that may prove to be more true than he wished. "You are right, my lady, I am being of no use. I was just… interested in seeing how Wolfra- Lord Bielefeld has changed over the years."

Aelis cast a glance to the pile of small paintings still resting in the man's lap. At the top was Wolfram's formal knighting portrait. "I always thought that one made him look like the Great One," she murmured, trying to play dumb. In truth she wanted those pictures back. It felt wrong for someone to be looking at them with such an enraptured expression without her master's approval.

"It does… doesn't it," Murata whispered, running his fingers quickly over the fine detail on Wolfram's face. In the picture the boy looked fiery yet at the same time reserved and dignified. All the pieces were beginning to fall together in the Great Sage's mind. Wolfram was a burning desire digging at the core of his being. "Perhaps," he attempted speech once more, "it is the expression that so bears the resemblance."

"Yes," the woman murmured, "perhaps it is."


End file.
